Gareth Bale made a triumphant return from injury with a goal as Real Madrid downed a stubborn Espanyol 2-0 on Saturday afternoon at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid.
After Alvaro Morata's first-half opener, the Welshman came off the bench for the final 20 minutes in what his first bit of action in 88 days and sealed the three points for Los Blancos. With the victory Real are now four points ahead of Barcelona in the league table and with two games in hand.
Real were in control throughout and it will be a big boost for manager Zinedine Zidane that such a heavily rotated side was still able to emerge with a rather comfortable victory.
Following Wednesday's Champions League win over Napoli, Zidane elected to field a number of reserve players, including goalkeeper Kiko Casilla, defenders Pepe and Nacho, midfielders Mateo Kovacic and Isco and forward Morata. Also of note was the return of Bale to the matchday 18 after almost three months sidelined by injury.
Real enjoyed the lion's share of possession to start, but the chances created were simply not translating into goals and to Espanyol's credit, their deep-lying defence held firm preventing Real from registering a shot on goal through the first 25 minutes.
That is not to say there was no entertainment though. Cristiano Ronaldo drew an "oooh" from the Bernabeu with a nutmeg on Espanyol defender David Lopez. Still, there was no change to the scoreboard.
Real were getting closer to goal and they should have struck at the half-hour mark when a Pablo Piatti giveaway gifted a break that ended with a Ronaldo shot across goal that Morata was unable to meet at the far post.
Minutes later two players who have spent more time on the bench than on the pitch this season hooked up to open the scoring for Real. Isco was given too much time and space outside the area and picked out Morata, who thumped a header past Espanyol goalkeeper Diego Lopez to make it 1-0.
Morata then nearly notched his second goal of the half after fine work from Nacho down the left, but fired just wide of the near post.
Despite Real's dominance, Espanyol were still just a goal away from drawing level, but Los Pericos offered very little going forward. Quique Sanchez Flores had his team set up to counter-attack but rarely did they even venture into the Real half, turning Casilla into another spectator.
By the final 30 minutes Real were well-positioned to put the match away and pocket the three points with a second goal. Ronaldo was set to do just that but instead popped a header over the crossbar off a Morata cross. The Portuguese cut a frustrated figure on the afternoon, lamenting his missed chances while also gesturing to teammates to move more.
Looking to seal things, Zidane took off Morata and brought on Bale. Marcelo then came on for Nacho, but the one-goal margin stayed intact and any time Espanyol had the ball at their feet in the final 15 minutes, a sense of discomfort grew within the Bernabeu.
Ironically it was on a rare foray forward for Espanyol which resulted in the prized second goal for Real. Ronaldo led a break by swinging a pass out wide left to Isco, who then found the streaking Bale in stride and the former Tottenham showed no rust sweeping a left-footer past Lopez that banged off the far post and in to extend the lead to 2-0 and finish off Espanyol.
Real return to action on Wednesday with a rare midweek league fixture away to Valencia.
Match Sheet:
2.- Real Madrid: Casilla; Carvajal, Pepe, Varane, Nacho (Marcelo, min. 81); Kroos, Kovacic (Casemiro, min. 61), Isco; Lucas, Morata (Bale, min. 71), Cristiano.
0.- Espanyol: Diego Lopez; Diego Reyes, Duarte, David Lopez, Aaron; Javi Fuego, Diop, Jurado, Piatti, Reyes (Hernan Perez, min. 46), Gerard Moreno.
Goals: 1-0, min. 33: Morata; 2-0, min. 83: Bale
Referee: Undiano Mallenco (Navarro). Yellow Cards: Gerard Moreno (Min. 28) for Espanyol, Kovacic (Min. 41) for Piatti, Isco (Min. 48) for Real Madrid, Javi Fuego (Min. 53) for Espanyol, Diop (Min. 68) for Espanyol, Aaron (Min. 80) for Espanyol, Casemiro (Min. 82) for Real Madrid
Red cards: None
Stadium: Santiago Bernabeu
Attendance: 81,000
