Khaberni - Real Madrid secured a comfortable victory over their guest Elche with a score of 4–1 in the match that brought them together at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in the 28th round of the Spanish League.
The victory came after a cautious start to the game before it was gradually sealed by the Madrid team thanks to their clear offensive efficiency, thus continuing to chase the leader Barcelona in the title race.
Real Madrid raised their points to 66, reducing the gap to just one point with the leader Barcelona, who is preparing for a match against Sevilla tomorrow, Sunday.
While the match appeared evenly balanced with few real opportunities, Real Madrid broke the deadlock in the 39th minute. Federico Valverde fired a powerful free kick which was parried by goalkeeper Matias Dituro, rebounding to Antonio Rudiger who followed up with a decisive touch into the top corner, giving the home side the lead.
Just one minute before the end of the first half, Valverde made his mark with a stunning goal from outside the box, after receiving the ball on the edge of the penalty area and shooting it in a curve unstoppable to the top corner, ending the first half with Real Madrid leading by two goals to none.
In the 66th minute, Real scored their third goal when substitute Daniel Yanez sent a perfect cross into the penalty area, met by defender Dean Huysen without supervision, and he headed it into the lower corner of the net, thus fortifying the Royal team's lead and practically putting the match out of Elche’s reach.
With just a few minutes left before the end, Elche scored their lone goal when the ball accidentally turned into the net by defender Manuel Angel in the 83rd minute.
And as they started the scoring, Real wanted to have the last word. They scored their fourth goal through a magical touch from their Turkish star Arda Guler: the substitute received the ball in the middle of the field, looked up to see goalkeeper Dituro off his line, and without hesitation decided to shoot powerfully into the net from 60 yards out, sealing a 4-1 victory for the Merengue.
