James Rodriguez impressed in a rare start as Real Madrid made it a joint-record 16th straight La Liga win with a narrow 2-0 victory over Espanyol on Sunday.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale were out, so the onus fell on James. Lucas Vazquez and Marco Asensio, who enjoyed successful loan spells with Espanyol prior to their respective Madrid returns, also came in, while goalkeepers Kiko Casilla and Diego Lopez were facing their former clubs.
Madrid needed only a few minutes to fashion the game’s first chance as Vazquez cut inside from the right and drove the ball hard and low across Diego Lopez’s goal, but it rolled inches wide of the far post – and Asensio’s trailing leg.
Pepe then completely misjudged a long ball into the Espanyol box, allowing Leo Baptistao to nick it off him and have a clear route to goal from a matter of yards out, but he shot straight at Casilla.
Both sides were forced into substitutions before the 20th minute due to injuries, Pablo Piatti pulling up first as he fell to a heap, before Casemiro took a kick to the back of his foot from Papakouli Diop.
Madrid were far from vintage and could’ve conceded a penalty when Sergio Ramos – already booked for an earlier challenge – blocked a shot just outside the box with his hands and went down holding his face.
They still proceeded to find the back of Lopez’s net through Karim Benzema, who headed past his former teammate from Marcelo’s cross, but his effort was correctly adjudged offside.
However, there was no doubting James or his finish on the stroke of half-time as he fired the ball hard and low across Lopez and into the back of the net from just outside the box. A body blow for Espanyol if there ever was one.
Not long after the restart, Vazquez whipped a cross towards Lopez’s far post for Vazquez to knock down and Benzema to then acrobatically hit on the volley, but the goalkeeper got a crucial hand to his ex-colleague’s effort, despite appearing to move the other way.
Benzema continued to ask questions of the Catalans’ defenders as he beautifully wrapped his foot around the ball when shaping up for a curling shot. Lopez, however, tipped it around his right-hand post for a corner.
And though his number was up, with Alvaro Morata coming on as his replacement, Benzema nonetheless got on the end of Vazquez’s drilled cross at Lopez’s near post and applied the finish.
That goal served to kill off Espanyol, yet they could’ve pulled one back when Madrid lost the ball cheaply in their own half. Baptistao then laid off Caicedo, who bent his run and curled a shot off Carvajal that seemed destined for the top left-corner, only for Casilla to fling it over the bar.
It could’ve got worse for Quique Sanchez Flores’ men as Diop looked to have committed a foul in the box near the death, but it was adjudged just outside as Los Blancos surpassed their previous record of 15 straight wins.
Espanyol 0-2 Real Madrid
James 45, Benzema 71
Espanyol: Diego Lopez; J Lopez, David Lopez, O Duarte, Victor; Perez, Diop, Roca (Reyes 83), Piatti (Alvaro Vazquez 10); Baptistao, Gerard (Caicedo 66)
Real Madrid: Casilla; Carvajal; Ramos, Pepe, Marcelo; James (Isco 62), Modric, Casemiro (Kroos 19); Lucas Vazquez, Benzema (Morata 72), Asensio
Referee: Hernandez Hernandez
