Madrid, October 30 (BNA): Vinicius Junior took over from Karim Benzema by scoring two goals to lead Real Madrid to a 2-1 victory at the 10-man Elche Stadium on Saturday and move to the top of the Spanish league standings.
Vinicius opened the scoring with a goal in the 22nd minute. After Elche midfielder Raul Guti was sent off for a second booking, the Brazilian winger put the score beyond doubt in the 73rd minute, according to the Associated Press.
The 21-year-old Vinicius has once again shown a huge improvement in his finishing touches. The double raised his tally in all competitions to nine in 14 games this season, compared to six goals in 47 games in the 2020-21 season.
Real Sociedad are tied on points with Real Madrid before they host Athletic Bilbao in the Basque Country derby on Sunday. After that, a match will still be available to Real Madrid.
Carlo Ancelotti rested Benzema ahead of Real Madrid’s Champions League match against Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday.
Real Madrid’s only win in their previous four league matches came last weekend when they beat Barcelona 2-1.
Mariano Diaz played his first minutes of the season in place of Benzema. The rarely used striker showed that his reflexes were still sharp when he used his heel to fire a pass from Casemiro to Vinicius’ road and fired it under Kiko Casella.
Elche almost equalized thanks to Lucas Pouillet. The striker stole the ball from David Alaba in the penalty area, but Lucas Perez missed a back-heeled pass by Javier Pastore that left him alone with only Thibaut Courtois to defeat.
Elche was pressing for an equaliser when Guti dangerously challenged Toni Kroos and was sent off in the 63rd minute.
Vinicius Elche finished off when he hit the ball over Casilla from a tight angle after Luka Modric cleared him with one touch.
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