Elche 1-2 Real Madrid: Player ratings as Vinicius Jr stars for Los Blancos
Real Madrid ran out comfortable 2-1 winners over ten-man Elche courtesy of two wonderful goals from Vinicius Jr on Saturday.
Surprisingly it was Elche who had the first real chance of the game, with Lucas Boye turning David Alaba inside out on the right of the penalty area before forcing Thibaut Courtois into a decent save at his near post.
That effort on goal sparked Real Madrid into life, as they made their way up the pitch to score the opener a minute late. The goal came courtesy of Vinicius, who latched onto a wonderful backheel from Mariano Diaz to rifle the ball into the bottom corner of the net.
After assisting the opener, Mariano almost nabbed himself a goal in the 25th minute. The forward, through one on one with Kiko Casilla (yes, the guy who the FA banned for racist abuse a few years ago), faked a shot on goal to put the goalkeeper on the floor but was then only able to hit the side-netting with his subsequent strike on goal.
Just before half-time Elche probably should've drawn level. Lucas Perez ran onto a clever flick from Javier Pastore just seven yards from goal, but could only drill his strike wide of the post.
The second half was pretty competitive...up until Raul Guti got himself sent off for a daft sliding tackle on Toni Kroos.
Thereafter it was all Real Madrid, and they deservedly doubled their lead in the 72nd minute. Once again it was Vinicius who bagged the goal, delightfully flicking the ball over the onrushing goalkeeper on the left side of the box.
Just as the game looked set to finish 2-0, a calamitous pass from Casemiro was blocked and latched onto by Pere Milla, who cooly slotted the ball past Courtois to make it 2-1.
Here's how the Real players rated...
REAL MADRID PLAYER RATINGS
1. Goalkeeper & defenders
Thibaut Courtois (GK) - 6/10 - Made a great save in the first half, had zero to do after that.
Lucas Vazquez (RB) - 6/10 - Elche clearly saw him as the weak point of the Madrid defence, as pretty much all their attacks came down his flank. That being said, he defended quite well.
Eder Militao (CB) - 5/10 - Didn't exactly look comfortable when the ball was whipped into the box, but did look comfortable when he was running forward with it.
David Alaba (CB) - 5/10 - Had his ropey moments in the first half. Not quite at it today but Elche weren't good enough to capitalise on it.
Marcelo (LB) - 5/10 - Just doesn't have the legs to go both ways anymore, which usually leads to Madrid being short defensively.
2. Midfielders
Toni Kroos (CM) - 6/10 - Typical Kroos performance.
Casemiro (CM) - 3/10 - Clumsy pass led to Elche's goal.
Luka Modric (CM) - 7/10 - He just never puts a foot wrong. Ever. Assisted the second goal of the game.
3. Forwards
Rodrygo (RW) - N/A - Subbed off with an injury inside the first 20 minutes.
Mariano Diaz (ST) - 7/10 - Wonderful flick to assist Vinicus' goal.
Vinicius Jr (LW) - 9/10 - Deadly in front of goal this season, and continued this form with a fine brace.
4. Substitutes
Marco Asensio - 5/10 - Tried a lot; did little.
Dani Carvajal - N/A.
Ferland Mendy - N/A.
Eden Hazard - N/A.
Eduardo Camavinga - N/A