BEVERLY HILLS, December 15, (THEWILL) –Â The Los Blancos resurgence stayed on course as the Spanish champions claimed a 3-1 win over 10-man Athletic Bilbao in La Liga on Tuesday at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano in Madrid.
The visitors started decently and there were promising aspects of their play before midfielder Raul Garcia’s aggression proved costly for the team. His third foul within 13 minutes earned him his marching orders from a second bookable offence.
Meanwhile, the hosts found creativity in the middle of the park difficult to come by even with their numerical advantage. But, they improved as the half progressed with left winger Vinicius Junior drawing a good save from keeper Unai Simon and central midfielder Federico Valverde poking wide.
Toni Kroos broke the deadlock on the stroke of half-time when he produced a superb first-time finish from 20 yards from a Vinicius pass.
Thanks to right back Ander Capa, Athletic returned with a response after the break. Combining with Oscar de Marcos, Capa continued his run, which began in his own half, to bury a remarkable effort in the net for the equaliser after his initial effort was parried by goalie Thibaut Courtois.
The 10-man Athletic were superb at keeping a lacklustre and unimaginative Madrid at bay until the 74th minute when a glorious Dani Carvajal cross found Karim Benzema’s head for the latter’s fifth goal of the season.
There was time for chances for both sides. First, Athletic missed the opportunity for a stunning late equaliser as Courtois stepped up with a huge stop to deny substitute midfielder Mikel Vesga. Then, Madrid showed them how it is done when Benzema sealed the points after a pass from playmaker Luka Modric.
The victory moves Zinedine Zidane’s side level on points with the leaders Real Sociedad and with momentum from their resurgence building after a fourth straight win, Zidane will begin to feel confident again.
Los Blancos will look to continue their run away to Eibar on Sunday, while Athletic, without a win in four games, have a shorter turnaround as they host Huesca on Friday.
