October 30, (THEWILL) – In the absence of Frenchman Karim Benzema, Vinicius Junior scored twice in Real Madrid’s 2-1 La Liga victory over 10-man Elche on Saturday to climb back to joint-top of the Spanish first division table for the time being.
Carlo Ancelotti took a calculated risk by resting Benzema for the encounter at Estadio Manuel Martinez Valero, and his team won to draw level with Real Sociedad, who face Athletic Bilbao on Sunday.
Rodrygo and Mariano were unexpectedly named to Madrid’s starting lineup, with Eden Hazard, Luka Jovic, Isco, and Marco Asensio among the replacements.
Madrid were forced into an early substitution when Rodrygo was replaced by Asensio due to injury, and they would have been behind in a minute if Thibaut Courtois had not saved Lucas Boye’s powerful shot.
Elche had the better of the first-half chances, but went down to Vinicius’ eighth goal in all competitions this season, which he scored after being set in by a brilliant back-heeled flick by Mariano Diaz, on his debut.
The hosts remained a threat as Lucas Perez managed to miss the target despite having plenty of space in front of him, and Raul Guti hammered a volley straight at Courtois.
However, Elche paid the price when Guti was sent off for a second yellow card for slamming into Toni Kroos, and Vinicius made Elche rue it with a chipped finish from an acute angle over goalkeeper Francisco Casilla, an ex-Madrid player.
Pere Milla had the chance to pull one back five minutes after being introduced thanks to a Casemiro error, but it was only a consolation for the home squad.
Elche will return to the field next Sunday when they visit Mallorca. Real Madrid has a UEFA Champions League match against Shakhtar Donetsk in midweek before welcoming Rayo Vallecano to the Santiago Bernabeu.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
