Player Ratings: Alaves 1-4 Real Madrid
Real Madrid returned to winning ways with a comfortable 4-1 win against Deportivo Alaves on Saturday night at the Mendizorroza.
Casemiro opened the scoring with a well taken header inside fifteen minutes. Eden Hazard then assisted Karim Benzema for Real Madrid’s second goal of the night. A few minutes later, Hazard managed to net a goal of his own to make it 3-0 for Los Blancos at half-time.
Later on in the second-half, Joselu pulled one back for Alaves to make it 3-1. The goal for Alaves ended up being a mere consolation with Karim Benzema scoring his second of the night and 10th in the league this season capping off an excellent performance from Real Madrid. These are our player ratings:
Starting XI:
Thibaut Courtois: 7/10
A pretty quite night for the Belgian. Real Madrid dominated proceedings which prevented Alaves from having any chances. There wasn’t much he could do to prevent Joselu’s thumping header.
Lucas Vazquez: 7/10
Decent performance from Lucas. The make-shift right-back was solid defensively and looked to attack whenever the chance arose.
Raphael Varane: 7/10
A composed and reassuring display from Raphael. In Ramos’ absence, the Frenchman stepped up tonight and put in a solid performance.
Eder Militao: 7/10
Ferland Mendy: 7/10
Toni Kroos: 9/10
Outstanding performance from Toni. The German was at the heart of everything positive for Real Madrid in Vitoria. Kroos assisted Casemiro with a well taken corner before then assisting Hazard with a beautiful pass that only he could pull off. Brilliant.
Casemiro: 8/10
Opened the scoring for Real Madrid with a brilliant header. Other than the goal, Casemiro kept things tidy and controlled in midfield and provided Varane and Militao with defensive protection. A defenders dream.
Luka Modric: 9/10
Real Madrid’s engine. Without him, life is much harder for Real Madrid. Luka Modric ran the show in midfield with some incredible passes throughout his time on the pitch. The Croatian assisted Benzema for Real Madrid’s fourth goal of the night.
Marco Asensio: 6/10
Karim Benzema: 9/10
Eden Hazard: 9/10
Vinicius: 7/10 – Came on to replace Hazard on the hour mark. The Brazilian was very direct and was a constant threat down the left-wing since coming on.
Isco: 6/10 – Came on to replace Asensio. The Spaniard wasn’t very involved during his short time on the pitch.
Odriozola: 6/10 – Came on to Luka Modric with fifteen minutes to go.
