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Benzema Score Hat-trick As Real Madrid Defeat Bilbao

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Karim Benzema scored a hat trick to lead Real Madrid past Athletic 3-0 on Sunday afternoon at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid.

The French striker found the back of the net three times in the second half to give Los Blancos all three points, keeping them within shouting distance of second-place Atletico Madrid at four points.

As for Benzema, he has now scored Real’s last eight goals and has gone five straight matches with a goal, raising his total to 21 on the season, good for second in the LaLiga scoring table.

Manager Zinedine Zidane’s player evaluation continued this time with Vallejo getting a start in defence in place of the injured Sergio Ramos, while it was another match on the bench for Gareth Bale and Isco, with Lucas Vazquez, Marco Asensio and Karim Benzema the named starters up front.

It was a relatively low key first half in which both goalkeepers were hardly troubled. Vallejo certainly seemed to be making the most of his opportunity, as he did well to keep Athletic dangerman Inaki Williams in check, including a pivotal stop at the start of the second half.

Things opened up in the second stanza and the man who has carried Real in recent weeks, Benzema, etched his name on the scoresheet again by beating Inigo Martinez to the spot and heading in a cross from Marco Asensio to earn Los Blancos a 1-0 lead.

Real had the momentum on their side and looked likely to double their lead, both clear-cut chances from Toni Kroos and Marcelo both failing to convert.

Zidane went to his bench in hopes to dusting off the Basque visitors, as Bale and Isco were summoned off the bench to replace Lucas Vazquez and Kroos, respectively.

But when a goal-scorer is in scorching form, the chances always seem to go his way and that’s what happened on Real’s second of the day. A corner kick was played into the area and Athletic goalkeeper Iago Herrerin badly misjudged it, giving Benzema an almost free header into an open net for a 2-0 lead.

Brahim, who came on as a late substitute for Asensio, was keen to make a good impression on Zidane and nearly made it three for the home side, but was denied by Herrerin. Later on it was Bale completely messing up a golden opportunity, missing over the crossbar. At the other end, Navas looked sharp despite rarely being challenged, as the Costa Rican did very well to point-blank effort from Williams.

On this day though, it had to be Benzema who capped things off, when he lofted a shot with Herrerin off his line and into net to round out the 3-0 soreline.

Match Sheet:

3.- Real Madrid: Keylor; Carvajal, Varane, Vallejo, Marcelo; Casemiro, Kroos (Isco, min. 70), Modric; Lucas (Bale, min. 70), Benzema, Asensio (Brahim, min. 84).

0.- Athletic: Herrerin; Lekue, Yeray, Inigo, Yuri; San Jose, Benat; Muniain, Raul Garcia (Aduriz, min. 76), Cordoba (Unai, min. 75), Williams.

Goals: 1-0, min. 47: Benzema; 2-0, min. 76: Benzema; 3-0, min. 90: Benzema

Referee: Melero Lopez (Andalusian). Yellow Cards: Cordoba (Min. 3) for Athletic. Yuri (Min. 15) for Athletic, Raul Garcia (Min. 45) for Athletic, Inigo Martinez (Min. 52) for Athletic, Kroos (Min. 69) for Real Madrid, Navas (Min. 84) for Real Madrid

Red cards: None

Stadium: Santiago Bernabeu

Attendance: 65.000

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