Real Madrid moved past Barcelona into second place and kept pressure on rivals Atlético Madrid in the title race with a 4-0 victory over Almeria at the Bernabéu. Ángel di Maria, Gareth Bale, Álvaro Morata and Isco all scored for Los Blancos.
Real Madrid vs. Almeria: Final score 4-0, No troubles for Los Blancos against Almeria
Despite a plethora of injuries, Real Madrid took care of business against Almeria.
Real Madrid signaled their intent just four minutes into the first half, as Ángel di María got some space 25 yards from goal and rattled the crossbar with a wicked shot. Di María was back two minutes later, testing Esteban with a low, hard shot from the right. The Almeria keeper was up to the task, though, getting down quickly and blocking the shot.
Di María finally solved Esteban in the 28th minute, beating the keeper with a lovely strike inside the far post. Di María played a quick one-two with Nacho on the right wing before cutting inside, a dribbling right around the Almeria defenders, before putting his shot past Esteban to give Madrid the 1-0 lead.
Madrid doubled their lead in the 53rd minute when Karim Benzema found Gareth Bale lurking on the left side of the Almeria box. After some quick passing on the edge of the area, Benzema gently pushed ball out to an unmarked Bale who wasted no time firing a shot that hit off Estaban's hand before crossing the line to make it 2-0.
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Less than three minutes later, Isco added a third goal for the home side. The midfielder brought down a cross on the left side of the Almeria box, took a couple touches to find a shooting lane, and beat Esteban with a low shot.
Morata made a lovely run in the 85th minute, slicing past two defenders and lobbing a short-range shot over Esteban to make it 4-0.
Madrid move even on points with Atlético Madrid, pending their match tomorrow, but worst case Los Blancos will find themselves back in second place by the end of the round.
Real Madrid: D. Lopez, Coentrão (Llorente 73’), Pepe, Varane, Nacho, Illarramendi, Di María (Casemiro 64’), Modric, Isco, Benzema, Bale (Morata 70’)
Goals: Di María (28’), Bale (53’), Isco (56’), Morata (85’)
Almeria: Esteban, Nelson, Torsiglieri, Hans, Mané, Verza, Corona (Soriano 72’), Tébar, Barbosa, Zongo (Diaz 69’), Rodri (Vidal 57’)
Goals: None
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