Elche 0-3 Real Madrid: Ballon d'Or winner Benzema nets & helps Madrid earn 3pts

Game is over and the final score is Elche 0-3 Real Madrid. Here is the match report.

Match Report

Karim Benzema was crowned with the Ballon d’Or on Monday and two days later, he showed why against Elche.

There was a frantic start to the match and Benzema was on the scoresheet early, only to see it wiped away by a narrow offside. Fede Valverde continued his exquisite form with an intentional slice into the corner from just outside the box to give them the lead. Twice more they would be denied by narrow offsides but it was not to matter, such was the incisive play on display.

Elche got to half-time at 1-0 and had contributed plenty of threat. Nico brought a good save from Andriy Lunin and early in the second half Carlos Clerc had a golden opportunity that the Ukrainian tipped over.

However that brought forward the inevitable. This time Benzema was not to be denied. He played in Rodrygo down the left side, then latched onto his flick in front of the box, casually finding the corner. Just reward for a brilliant performance.

In the dying moments, Aurelien Tchouameni split the full-back and centre-back to find Rodrygo again. His cross was almost cushioned into the net by Marco Asensio scoring with his first touch.

An intense game ended in a comfortable victory for Los Blancos, who look ominous with a six-point lead at the top of the table before Barcelona play. Elche can take heart from the openings they created as they head to Barcelona themselves to take on Espanyol at the weekend.

Match Events

0' The match is about to start!

6' Disallowed! Benzema scores but the goal is offside

10' GOAL! Elche 0-1 Real Madrid (Valverde)

20' Morente's shot over the bar

27' OFFSIDE! Alaba’s goal disallowed

32' Mercau's shot stopped

50' Benzema's long shot stopped

61' Goooal... No! Benzema’s goal disallowed after VAR review

70' Yellow Card! Gumbau booked

74' GOAL! Elche 0-2 Real Madrid (Benzema)

88' GOAL! Elche 0-3 Real Madrid (Asensio)

Line-ups

Elche XI: Édgar Badía, Bigas, Gonzalo Verdú, Helibelton Palacios, Clerc, Pere Milla, Mascarell, L.Boyé, Raúl Guti, Tete Morente, Nicolás Fernández Mercau

Subs: Pastore, Enzo Roco, Fidel, Marti, Axel Werner, D.González, Gumbau, Josan, Ponce, P.Lirola, Quina, Álex Collado

Real Madrid XI: Modric, Benzema, Kroos, Alaba, Carvajal, Rudiger, Valverde, Militao, Andriy Lunin, Vinicius, Rodrygo

Subs: Hazard, Nacho, Vazquez, Odriozola, F Mendy, Vallejo, Asensio, Aurélien Tchouameni, Eduardo Camavinga, Luis López, Lucas Cañizares