1 goal, 100% passing success: Rodrygo takes advantage of Vinicius’ absence to shine on the Real Madrid left-wing | OneFootball

Real Madrid put in a thrilling performance as they returned to La Liga action on Sunday with a match against Las Palmas. The Merengues got a 4-1 victory in this match, but the scoreline could easily have been closer to 7-1 as three of their goals were chalked off for offside, while Kylian Mbappe also hit the post twice.

The start of the match was not exactly to Carlo Ancelotti’s expectations, as Fabio Silva scored the first goal for Las Palmas only 40 seconds after kick-off. However, following this early setback, Los Blancos remained on the front foot for the rest of the game.

The first threat from Real Madrid on the Las Palmas goal came as Rodrygo Goes made a marauding run inside the opposition box and put in an accurate cross that Brahim Diaz somehow missed despite having an empty net ahead of him.

However, only around 15 minutes after this miss, the Brazilian again challenged the visitors’ defence and ended up winning a penalty as Sandro Ramirez fouled him inside the box. Kylian Mbappe confidently slotted the ball into the bottom right corner of the net from the resulting spot-kick.

The Brazilian then saw another of his shots saved by Cillessen 10 minutes later but made another vital contribution in the 35th minute as he put in an accurate pass for Mbappe inside the Las Palmas box, and the Frenchman finished his chance with an exquisite first-touch shot into the top-right corner.

He could have had another assist to his name, but the second time these two players connected, Mbappe’s goal was controversially chalked off for offside.

Following this assist, the Brazilian himself got on the scoresheet in the second half, as he finished off a good team move from the centre of the box.

But beyond these direct goal contributions, Rodrygo’s performance in this game was highly encouraging as he showed signs of his best level, something he has not really been able to do for the most part of this season.

He was simply brilliant in the build-up phases for his team, as he did not misplace even a single pass on the night, successfully completing all 33 of his attempted passes with a 100% success rate, according to Sofascore statistics. He also provided 4 key passes and created 2 big chances, but only 1 of his 6 crosses were accurate.

He also put in his characteristic defensive effort, despite the fact that Las Palmas did not really threaten the Real Madrid goal after their early goal and some other early chances. He made 2 interceptions in this match.

Vinicius Junior was suspended for this game following his red card in the game against Valencia and Mbappe played as centre-forward. Thus, Rodrygo got the chance to impress in his best position, and he ensured he took full advantage of this opportunity. He might get another chance to do so in the next league game, as his compatriot was suspended for two games.

But in the long-term, he will be expected to return to his position on the right-wing, as he is arguably the best player in the Real Madrid squad for this position, and Vinicius will return to retake his left-wing position.