Real Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti felt “it’s a good sign for all three of his forwards to have scored,” after the 3-0 win over Alaves in the La Liga fixture at Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday. Los Blancos had to dig deep, scoring all three goals in the second half to secure all three points and maintain the four-point lead over second-placed Sevilla. Marco Asensio opened the scoring in the 63rd minute before Vinicius Junior doubled the lead on 80 minutes and then Karim Benzema scored from the penalty spot to complete the drubbing.
? FT: @realmadriden 3-0 @alaveseng
⚽ @marcoasensio10 63′, @vinijr 80′, @Benzema 90’+1′#Emirates #RealMadridAlavés pic.twitter.com/TaWGROwDMN— Real Madrid C.F. ???? (@realmadriden) February 19, 2022
Ancelotti’s side came into the match on the back of a 1-0 loss to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League last-16 first leg tie in Paris in the mid-week and desperately needed a good performance to get their confidence back and get back to winning ways.
Reflecting on the performance, Ancelotti said in his press conference that: “For all three forwards to score, that’s a good sign. We needed a match like this, although the first half was a difficult one too. At half time, I said that we needed to show more quality in the final third. We did that and worked well.
“We spoke this week about how we hadn’t started some matches with the intensity needed. We’ve been better in second halves recently. Maybe the opponents play at a reduced pace in the second half and we make the most of that.”
Real Madrid broke the deadlock courtesy of a sensational strike from Asensio. The Spanish midfielder cut inside from the right and unleashed a brilliant left-footed curler into the far top corner.
Ten minutes from time, Vinicius slotted home from Benzema’ assist to extend the lead. On 90 minutes, the referee handed a penalty to the home side when Rodrygo was brought down inside the box by Lejeune and Benzema calmly converted the spot-kick.
There weren’t any Real Madrid substitutions until the 82nd minute, once it was already 2-0. Asked about this, Ancelotti said: “When Asensio scored, we decided to wait. I liked what they were doing. Generally, we were playing well. It was just in the final third that we had lacked something.”