Authoritarian winner of Rayo Vallecano three days ago, Real Madrid returned to battle in La Liga. For this 6th day, the capital club went to Elche, dead last but poorly rewarded, with the ambition to continue to put pressure on FC Barcelona, ​​three lengths in front and which hosts Santander tomorrow (9:30 p.m.). For this weekday match, José Mourinho observed a new small rotation of the squad with the starts of Alexander-Arnold at right back, the returns of Huijsen and Cucurella in the eleven, in addition to the first start of Tchouameni of the season. For entertainment, Güler, a man in good shape since the start of the competition, accompanied Diomandé, Vinicius and Mbappé.
In this configuration, Real almost struck from the start with an opportunity that Vinicius failed to convert (2nd). Lacking confidence for his debut, DiomandĂ© received a warning in the 4th, and SangarĂ©’s good cross for Morente’s cross shot was not far from opening the scoring to Elche (8th). The locals offered great resistance, often at the cost of an intense physical fight, bitter duels, and high tension in the stands and on the pitch. Osorio’s pivotal shot confirmed this highlight (17th), while Vinicius, in response, spoiled yet another situation (21st). The Brazilian was undoubtedly the only Madrilenian a tone below this evening.
Real was hot
Talent ended up making the difference through Arda Güler, author of a magnificent free kick (0-1, 25th). Elche suffered the blow and even conceded a second goal with this dazzling performance from Diomandé on the right. Launched at full speed, the star rookie of the transfer window distributed a perfect cross for Mbappé who concluded from the penalty spot (0-2, 33rd). He scored his 7th goal in La Liga, already, not without getting a little fright with the goalkeeper. The Ivorian winger could clench his fists with this first decisive pass. The score could even have been worse without an offside from Mbappé, who scored again on this pass from Valverde (41st). Once this warning passed, the Franjiverdes finished this first period better, without managing to materialize their chances through Osorio (43rd) and Morente (45th+2).
They had not yet given up in this meeting, like this header from Osorio blocked (49th), a new strike from the Argentine striker (59th) after good work from Lemar, enthusiastic for his entry into play, then from Morente (63rd). Shaken, the Merengues also left their opponents alive with this opportunity which Vinicius again wasted (65th) before leaving. By pushing so hard, the red lantern ended up being rewarded with a magnificent header from an aerial Osorio (1-2, 71st). The entries of Brahim Diaz and Bellingham failed to break this dynamic. Worse still, Real reacted instead of acting, and Martin Anselmi’s men managed to equalize after a very good collective movement concluded by a shot from Nino (2-2, 82nd).
Mourinho brought out his last assets still available with the entries of Endrick, for his first of the season, and Espi to bring out Tchouameni and Alexander-Arnold. In a system with three center forwards, Casa Blanca dared an offensive imbalance which could have been fatal if Elche had better negotiated two or three situations. Instead, Madrid’s pressure made the difference, especially under the heavy blows of DiomandĂ©, who was very good this evening. After opportunities from Endrick and Espi, Bellingham found MbappĂ© in depth, who preferred to serve Espi rather than finish alone (2-3, 90th+1). Real is doing well and is back on equal points with Barça.
