Real Madrid travelled to the Martinez Valero this afternoon to take on Elche in La Liga. Carlo Ancelotti’s men were on the hunt for nothing less than three points.
Madrid beat Barcelona 2-1 in El Clasico last Sunday but only managed a scoreless draw at home to Osasuna during the week. Elche hadn’t won going into the game since October third, and lost 1-0 to struggling Alaves on Tuesday night.
The visitors went into the game in the knowledge that they would go top with a win, as it would draw them level on points with leaders Real Sociedad and they have a better goal difference. They were second at kick-off, while Elche were 15th.
Karim Benzema was quite surprisingly left out of the team, but Madrid still had enough firepower to take a 22nd minute lead. Vinicius combined well with Mariano Diaz before arrowing a ruthless finish past Kiko Casilla in Elche’s goal.