Granada 0 Real Madrid 4: James and Morata at the double as Madrid ease to win
James Rodriguez and Alvaro Morata scored two apiece as Real Madrid stayed on track to be LaLiga champions with a 4-0 win at relegated Granada.
James’ brace came inside the first 11 minutes, with Zinedine Zidane’s men barely breaking sweat against wholly overmatched opponents.
Morata’s double was also the fruit of a quickfire effort after the half-hour, from which point Madrid were able to take their foot off the gas with far more testing assignments ahead.
Atletico are up next in midweek, with the European champions’ 3-0 advantage from the first leg of the all-Madrid Champions League semi-final likely to be ample insurance.
Madrid remain behind Barcelona in LaLiga by virtue of an inferior head-to-head record, but have a game in hand, meaning matches at home to Sevilla and away at Celta Vigo – both teams who have beaten Zidane’s men this season – are likely to be pivotal to the outcome of the title race.
23 – James Rodriguez has been involved in more goals than any other La Liga midfielder this season (11 goals and 12 assists – all comps). 10 pic.twitter.com/mqQpcJj4sr
— OptaJose (@OptaJose) May 6, 2017
Barcelona were 4-1 winners against Villarreal earlier on Saturday and their rivals went ahead within three minutes at Nuevo Los Carmenes, picking the hosts apart with inevitable ease.
Morata threaded a pass through an inviting gap on the left-hand side of the Granada backline and Lucas Vazquez charged into the box.
Lucas fired across goal and James wheeled away in celebration, although the decisive touch arguably came off Granada centre-back Sverrir Ingason.
There were no doubts over James’ claims to Madrid’s second eight minutes later.
Vazquez overhit a cross but Fabio Coentrao was allowed to retrieve the ball on the left and send it back towards the area, where the Colombia playmaker was given similarly ample room to head home.
The dire start persuaded Granada boss Tony Adams to make a tactical switch in the 18th minute, with defensive midfielder Uche replacing winger and fellow Watford loanee Aly Malle.
23 – There were 23 passes in the build-up to James Rodriguez’s goal – the most for Real Madrid in La Liga this season. Power. pic.twitter.com/AVkEoCJCUW
— OptaJose (@OptaJose) May 6, 2017
That stemmed the tide to an extend but Morata got himself on the scoresheet with half an hour played, crashing in via the underside of the crossbar after full-back Danilo streamed clear down the right flank.
It was two in five minutes for the Spain striker – Marco Asensio sauntering towards the Granada area to find his team-mate in the box, where Morata twisted Martin Hongla to distraction before blasting past Guillermo Ochoa.
Lucas cut in from the right to fire against the top of the crossbar in the 42nd minute and forced a one-on-one stop from Ochoa, with Casemiro lifting the rebound over.
Despite that relative damage limitation, Granada departed to predictable boos at the interval.
Adams sent out his players with relatively renewed purpose after the break, Lucas firing into the side netting as his quest for a goal continued.
Karim Benzema was introduced in place of Asensio before the hour and he almost scored on the end of Vazquez’s return pass in the 61st minute, with Danilo drilling the rebound against the base of the post.
Madrid captain Sergio Ramos was denied by Guillermo from a James corner and prodded wide at the near post in the 66th minute after Lucas again shot goalwards in vain.
Martin Hongla blazed over 10 minutes from time and on-loan Borussia Dortmund forward Adrian Ramos forced Kiko Casilla into a rare save at his near post as Granada sought consolation on a night in keeping with a shambolic season on and off the field.
Key Opta stats:
– Real Madrid have scored in their last 60 games in all competitions. Only one team from the top five leagues have had a longest scoring run (61 Bayern Munich  between March 2013 and April 2014).
– With his first goal, James Rodriguez become the second Madrid player to reach double figures both in goals (11) and assists (12) this season in all competitions after Cristiano Ronaldo (35 and 11).
– Madrid have won their last nine away games in all competitions, their best run away from home under Zinedine Zidane.
