Daniel Wass' early own goal and a late Lucas Vazquez strike consigned Valencia to a 2-0 LaLiga loss at Real Madrid.
2018/2019 La Liga
2-0
Match Events
Real Madrid battled to a 2-0 home win against Valencia in LaLiga thanks to an early own goal scored by Daniel Wass and a late Lucas Vazquez strike.
Isco was back in the squad after being left out entirely for the Champions League win at Roma in midweek, but Santiago Solari again opted not to name the Spain playmaker in the XI.
Marcos Llorente thrived in midfield in Isco's absence but Madrid needed an eighth-minute intervention from Wass to take the lead on Saturday.
Dani Carvajal crossed from close to the byline on the right wing and Wass sent an attempted clearing header flying past goalkeeper Neto, while Thibaut Courtois was in fine form at the other end.
Vazquez – who also scored in the 2-0 win over Roma – slotted in the decisive second for Madrid with seven minutes to go, the goal surviving a lengthy VAR review, to claim all three points.
8' OWN GOAL! Real Madrid 1-0 Valencia (Wass)
1-0 TO REAL MADRID! Wass sticks it into his own net as he tries to head Carvajal's cross clear.
29' CHANCE! Bale's close-range shot saved
Superb save! Bale controls the ball on the corner of the six-yard box after a cross and jinks to get space on his left. He smashes a shot at goal and Neto gets a strong hand to it. Benzema complains to the referee that his shirt was pulled while the cross was in the air.
63' Courtois saves Madrid from conceding
Offside! Parejo looks to have found Mina in behind the defence again. The striker controls and tries to take the ball past Courtois. The flag eventually goes up, but it is another scare for the Real Madrid defence.
72' MISS! Asensio fails to convert open chance
BLOCKED! Llorente is clear down Real Madrid's right and passes across the box to Asensio. Valencia's defence is all over the place, but Asensio's shot is a poor one. Piccini blocks the ball on the line and Valencia are still in the game.
78' WHAT A SAVE! Courtois denies Batshuayi
Batshuayi gets in behind the Real Madrid defence and has time to pick a place to finish. He goes for a side-footed effort and Courtois pulls off a close range save. The flag goes up for offside shortly after so it would not have counted anyway.
83' GOAL! Real Madrid 2-0 Valencia (Vazquez)
VAZQUEZ MAKES IT 2-0 TO REAL MADRID! Vazquez passes the ball into the net with his left foot from close range after an electric Real Madrid counter-attack.
Line-ups
Real Madrid XI: Sergio Ramos, L. Modrić, Benzema, Bale, T. Courtois, Daniel Carvajal, R. Varane, Lucas Vázquez, M.Llorente, Ceballos, Reguilón
Subs: K. Navas, Isco, M.Díaz, Marco Asensio, Javi Sánchez, Valverde, Vinícius Júnior
Valencia XI: Garay, Gameiro, D.Wass, Parejo, Coquelin, Neto, Gabriel, Gayá, Gonçalo Guedes, Mina, C.Soler
Subs: Kondogbia, Cristiano Piccini, M. Batshuayi, Jaume Doménech, Diakhaby, T.Lato, Ferrán Torres