Carlo Ancelotti's Real Madrid side showed no let-up in their third consecutive game on the road, picking up all three points at the Benito Villamarín.
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Dani Carvajal celebrated his return from a long injury lay off by firing Real Madrid to a 1-0 win at Real Betis in La Liga on Saturday. The win takes Carlo Ancelotti’s side to the top of the early La Liga table. Madrid now have seven points from three games while Sevilla who were held by Elche for a 1-1 draw are level on points with the Los Blancos. Earlier, Sevilla striker En-Nesyri’s header cancelled out Enzo Roco’s opener to share the points at Martinez Valero. Elsewhere, Real Sociedad enjoyed a 1-0 win over Levante while Athletic Club beat Celta Vigo 1-0.
Real Madrid boss Ancelotti, who returned to the club after Zinedine Zidane’s departure had brought back Gareth Bale and Isco into the fold. Both Isco and Bale were out of favour during Zidane’s tenure and Bale even went out on loan to Tottenham in the previous season.
Both teams started the game positively as they kept the goalkeepers busy. Betis custodian Rui Silva made a good save from Eder Militao’s attempt in the seventh minute. At the other end, Thibaut Courtois had to get down sharply to keep out Nabil Fekir’s well-struck effort from long range.
Benzema had the away side’s best chance in the first half which he fizzed wide. After the break, the Frenchman thought he had broken the deadlock but the referee ruled out his effort for offside.
Carvajal struck immediately after Betis had squandered a chance to take the lead, as striker Juanmi misplaced a pass when he had the opportunity to shoot. Vinicius Junior did well to keep the ball in play before Carvajal volleyed home from Benzema’s cross to score the only goal of the match in the 61st minute.
Los Blancos centre-back David Alaba who joined Madrid from Bayern Munich this summer almost gifted the equalizer to the opponents. The 29-year-old’s attempt to cut out a cross sent the ball spinning just past his own post.
Ancelotti’s team who were playing without some of their key players like- Luka Modric, Toni Kroos and Ferland Mendy due to injury, held firm to earn three points.
Real Madrid who beat Alaves 4-1 in their first game and then drawn 3-3 with Alaves are on top of the table after three games.
“There are many things that we have to improve, but the balance is positive,” said Ancelotti.
“We have had an odd pre-season, many players arrived late. I am quite satisfied but yes, we have to improve.”
Meanwhile, it was a very important goal for Carvajal to boost his confidence after missing the European championship and a major part of last season because of a series of injuries. He was making his first start since April.
“The goal meant a lot to me as I’ve had a long difficult time on a personal level. I’ve spent so long working hard behind the scenes to get fit again and hopefully this year will be different,” Carvajal said.
“We’d been scoring a lot of goals in the last two games but conceded a lot too so it was important to give a balanced performance before the international break,” added the defender.
“We began the game really well then struggled to play together. We showed more intensity after the break and tried to push them higher up the pitch,” he concluded.
At Balaidos, Inaki Williams’ 34th minute goal was enough to earn a victory against Celta Vigo while Ander Barrenetxea’s lone goal proved the winner for Real Sociedad against Levante.
