Real Madrid vs Espanyol, Live Score and Commentary, La Liga 2016/17

Until next time, adios and take care!

That is all from our live coverage of the game between Real Madrid and Espanyol. This is Shaurya Vineet signing off, if you have any suggestions or questions or feedback get in touch with me on Twitter @ShauryaVineet.

Morata opened the scoring for the hosts but Espanyol were threatening to equalise in the second half when Gareth Bale scored his first goal of the year to put the result beyond doubt.

And how happy would Gareth Bale be right now. Returns to the fold after spending months on the sideline and then gets on the scoresheet immediately.

Real Madrid go 4 points clear at the top of La Liga with the win and the impetus is now on Barcelona to reduce the deficit tomorrow night. Zidane's side will be happy with their performance, as despite not being at the best they pulled off a comfortable victory.

90+2' Peep Peep Peep... Full-Time: Real Madrid 2-0 Espanyol

90+2' Huge appeals for a penalty but Ronaldo is claimed to have been offside by the linesman. Ronaldo went down inside the box and the referee pointed towards the spot - the assistant had his flag up and it is just a free-kick. That was a poor call from the linesman.

90' Two minutes of added time.

Stat Attack: Gareth Bale's goal was his 23rd in his last 28 appearances for Real Madrid. (via Opta)

89' Cristiano Ronaldo goes down inside the box under pressure from the Espanyol defence. The Portuguese wants a penalty given to his team but the referee is having none of it.
Replays confirm that Ronaldo had just got hold of the air with his shot. Good decision!

Espanyol have gone 20 years without a win at Santiago Bernabeu. The last time they won a game was way back in 1996, when they beat the home side 2-1.

Espanyol are looking to salvage something from the tie as they try and bomb forward. At 1-0, they had a chance at 2-0 it is as good as over.

Espanyol were knocking on Madrid's door when Isco released Bale down the left on the counter. The Welshman got the better of his marker before placing the ball past Lopez into the far corner to make it 2-0. Game Over!

83' GOOOAAAALLL!!!! Gareth Bale returns to the team and gets on the scoresheet!! 2-0!

82' Yellow Card: Casemiro is booked for tripping Fuego.

82' Substitution: Jurado's time in the middle is up and he is being replaced by Alvaro Vasquez.

81' Substitution: Marcelo comes on to replace Nacho, who looks to have pulled a muscle.

80' Yellow Card: Aaron Martin is booked for a foul on Lucas Vasquez.

Espanyol are threatening to punish Madrid on the break. All they need is a goal to bring things back on level terms.

78' Kroos plays an over the top ball for Vasquez who lines up for it and connects with a right-footed shot which ripples the side netting. Ronaldo looks frustrated.

77' Bale is in the thick of things after coming on. He gets the better of his marker down the left before curling in a ball into the box for Ronaldo. The Portuguese's header is tame and it bounces out of the box where Carvajal is there to connect with a hopeful volley which is caught comfortably by Lopez.

Stat Attack: Isco has three goals and two assists in his last 4 starts for Zinedine Zidane's side.

74' Madrid try to break through Ronaldo, who lays it off for Isco, who then passes it on to Vasquez on the far right. The winger tries to ping the ball in the middle of the box but Lopez is there to gather it.

73' Jurado has the ball around 40 yards from goal and the midfielder connects his laces with it and it flies way off target. That one was born out of frustration.

71' After spending 3 months on the sidelines, Bale returns to the starting line-up.
Substitution: Bale comes on to replace Alvaro Morata and Ronaldo will shift to the middle.

Gareth Bale is prepared to come on.

68' Yellow Card: Papa Kouly Diop is booked for a foul on Casemiro.

65' Chance! Morata curls the ball into the box and Lucas is there to control it and he takes a shot but it is cleared and a huge chance goes begging.

63' Espanyol register their first shot of the night with Casilla forced into making a save from Perez's shot. Flores' side win a corner but fail to make it count and Madrid counter. Zidane's side win a free-kick on the left in Espanyol's box.

61' Substitution: And that is his last involvement of the night as Casemiro comes on to take his place in the line-up. Casemiro replaces Kovacic.

61' Ronaldo releases Kovacic into the box but the Croatian outmuscles Perez for the ball and the referee sees it as a foul.

58' Los Blancos waste another corner and Flores' side counter and it looks impressive. However, Perez has handled the ball in the build-up and a great chance comes to an end.

Despite Real Madrid's dominance, they have only registered one (1) shot on target so far in the game. Espanyol, on the other hand, have 0 shots on target.

56' Vasquez wins a corner for Los Blancos after some good work down the right. This is their 9th corner of the game but they fail to threaten from it. Zidane's side need to make the most of their set-pieces.

54' Ronaldo lines up to take it and crashes his shot against the wall and a big chance goes begging.

53' Yellow Card: Javi Fuego is booked for a foul on Ronaldo.

53' Ronaldo goes on a jinking run from the left and is stopped by Javi Fuego and Real Madrid win the free-kick in a dangerous position. CR7 will fancy this.

50' Real Madrid break with Alvaro Morata, who shifts the ball to Ronaldo - who uncharacteristically - tries to find a teammate in the middle but the supply is cut off.

49' Yellow Card: Isco is booked for a poor challenge on Pablo Piatti.

Gareth Bale is seen warming up and Santiago Bernabeu applauds their superstar. He is expected to play some part tonight.

46' And we are underway in the second half.

46' Substitution: Hernan Perez comes on to replace Jose Antonio Reyes.

The players are out on the pitch for the restart. The second half promises to be full of entertainment.

Real Madrid are 4 points clear of Barcelona at the top of La Liga as thing stand. The Camp Nou outfit take on Leganes tomorrow night and have their work cut out now.

Morata's goal was his 11th of the season for Los Blancos. He has shown his quality whenever he has been afforded the chance.

Real Madrid lead courtesy of Alvaro Morata's opener in the 33rd minute. It looks like Espanyol are staring at another defeat against Real Madrid until Quique Sanchez Flores has something up his sleeve.

45' Half-Time: Real Madrid 1-0 Espanyol

45' Morata goes down inside the box but the referee waves play on. Excellent decision.

44' Ronaldo has the ball on the left and he puts in an excellent cross into the box which just evades Morata and Vasquez is unable to beat his marker to it and a chance goes begging.

41' Yellow Card: Piatti tried to counter from the corner but his run was halted by Kovacic and he goes into the referee's book for that foul.