Madrid: Gareth Bale marked his return from injury with a goal as Real Madrid continued their impressive turnaround in results by thrashing Espanyol 4-2 away, Sunday, racking up a third consecutive win in La Liga.
Third-placed in the La Liga points table, Real Madrid usually fare well on trips to Espanyol and they got off to a flying start on this visit when Karim Benzema scored in the fourth minute on the rebound, beating goalkeeper Diego Lopez who had parried a shot from Luka Modric.
Captain Sergio Ramos headed home a cross from Modric in the 15th minute to score his fourth goal in January and put Madrid further at ease, although Espanyol pulled themselves back into contention with a strike from Leo Baptistao 10 minutes later.
Santiago Solari’s side restored their two-goal advantage when Benzema struck again just before half time, playing a one-two with Vinicius (Jr) and curling the ball into the bottom corner after a delightful back heel from the Brazilian teenager.
Bale came off the bench midway through the second half after more than three weeks out injured and the Wales forward scored within three minutes of his return, collecting a pass and escaping from two defenders with a drag of the heel before smashing into the net.
Madrid were reduced to 10 men later in the game when Raphael Varane was given a straight red card for blocking a goal-scoring chance with a foul, and Espanyol pulled back another goal with a wonderful strike from Venezuelan Roberto Rosales.
Madrid are third on 39 points, 10 behind leaders Barcelona who beat Girona 2-0 earlier Sunday while Espanyol dropped to 15th.
Reuters