Deportivo Alaves 0-1 Real Madrid: Match review | OneFootball

Real Madrid got back to winning ways after three matches without success as they secured a 1-0 victory over Deportivo Alaves at the Estadio de Mendizorroza on matchday 31 of La Liga on Sunday. A hard-fought performance gave the Whites all three points as they remain in the title race with seven matches still to play in the Spanish top division.

Los Blancos made a strong start to the game and got close to scoring early on through Arda Guler. The Turk timed his run well to latch onto Antonio Rudiger’s ball over the top but was taken out by Alaves’ goalkeeper Jesus Owono with the team’s subsequent penalty shouts turned down by the referee.

Rodrygo Goes’ provided the team the offensive threat in the first 30 minutes as his superb footwork and dribbling got the better of the opposition more often than not. Owono made a number of good saves until the visitors thought they had eventually taken the lead through Raul Asencio, who wheeled away to celebrate a close-range finish from a corner delivered by the star Brazilian.

A VAR check followed and Rudiger was deemed to have fouled the goalkeeper, which resulted in the goal getting chalked off. Soon afterwards, on the 34th minute, Real Madrid found a well-deserved breakthrough as Eduardo Camavinga scored with a beautiful attempt from outside the box.

As the team looked to extend its advantage, an uncharacteristic moment meant that they were down to 10 men as Kylian Mbappe’s nasty challenge on Antonio Blanco was punished with a straight red card. Although the referee initially brandished the yellow, a subsequent VAR review required the match official to give the France captain his marching orders.

For much of the game, the Merengues maintained a disciplined and compact defensive structure. Though the hosts had possession, they were not able to trouble Thibaut Courtois in spite of their numerical advantage until one of their players received a direct red card too.

Following Jude Bellingham’s and Vinicius Junior’s introduction, Real Madrid started playing balls over the top. The latter was released on the 70th minute but got clipped in his calf by Manu Sanchez. While the referee did not whistle for a foul first, a VAR review for a third time in the game required him to overturn his decision and send the Alaves left back off as well.

The Whites dominated proceedings afterwards but were unable to double their advantage. Bellingham came closest to making it 2-0 after being found by Vinicius very high up the pitch but the Englishman was thwarted in a one-on-one situation by Owono.

In the latter stages of the game, the team pragmatically saw the game out by retaining the ball and keeping an important clean sheet in the process too. It was the first time that Real Madrid managed to escape without conceding a goal since February. Meanwhile, Dani Ceballos also marked his return from injury as he replaced Federico Valverde in second half stoppage time.

Up next for Real Madrid is the Champions League quarter-final second leg against Arsenal at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu as they look to make history in the European Cup yet again and overcome a 3-0 deficit against the Gunners following their 3-0 defeat in the first leg last week.