Gareth Bale, Cristiano Ronaldo goals help Real Madrid beat Eibar
Goals from Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo have given Real Madrid a 2-0 win over Eibar in Sunday’s La Liga clash at the Ipurua Municipal Stadium.
The first attempt of the game came courtesy of Sergio Enrich for the hosts, who received a precise pass in the 13th minute and let rip from long range, but Keylor Navas managed to hold on to the ball.
Two minutes later it was Real’s turn to threaten as James Rodriguez played an incisive pass into the path of Ronaldo, who advanced into a one-on-one situation with Asier Riesgo and forced a save out of the Eibar goalkeeper.
Just two minutes before the break the visitors went ahead when Bale jumped highest to connect with a cross from Luka Modric and planted his close-range header into the left side of the goal.
Los Blancos were quickest out of the starting blocks after the restart, with Ronaldo latching on to a lofted pass and striking a snap shot from outside the box that went wide of the target.
Takashi Inui went close to pulling a goal back just after the hour when he carved himself some space and drilled a long-range daisy-cutter towards goal, but he was denied by Navas. Eibar continued to put up a fight but Real then had the opportunity to double their lead when Daniel Garcia’s foul in the box prompted the referee to award the visitors a penalty.
Ronaldo stepped up and made no mistake from the spot, waiting for Riesgo to flinch first before sliding the penalty home, low into the middle of the net, to give Rafael Benitez’s side all three points.
The result puts Real Madrid third in the La Liga table, six points behind leaders Barcelona, while Eibar slip to seventh place.
