La Liga: Asensio Leads Real Madrid Back To The Top

Real Madrid regained their place atop the La Liga table with a 4-2 victory over Leganes on Wednesday night at Butarque.

An early James goal, followed by an Alvaro Morata brace and a Martin Mantovani own goal all helped Los Blancos earn the three points in what was a wild affair between crosstown opponents. Real now own a two-point lead in the table ahead of rivals Barcelona.

While he didn’t get his name on the scoreline, Marco Asensio led the way for Real, providing an assist on the first Real goal and laying the groundwork for the fourth by drawing a free kick after some fantasti solo work.

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Real were well on their way to an easy victory with a 3-0 lead by minute 23, but Leganes responded with a pair of scores to give the home fans hope of an epic comeback in the first league meeting between these two sides. However, an own goal in the first minutes of the second-half doomed Leganes’ chances, and Real saw out the rest of the match in workmanlike fashion.

Manager Zinedine Zidane made a whopping nine changes from the team that downed Alaves over the weekend, as Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Toni Kroos all received the night off in order to rest for this Saturday’s Madrid derby. The only two to continue in the starting XI were goalkeeper Keylor Navas and right-back Danilo. In attack Lucas Vazquez, Marco Asensio and Morata led the attack and were supported by a midfield trio of Casemiro, Mateo Kovacic and James. Meanwhile, in the back Marcelo, Nacho and Sergio Ramos were back in the fold.

Despite the absence of so many starters, Real’s talent far surpassed Leganes and the last thing the hosts needed was to commit an early error to hand Real a 1-0 lead. A giveaway was pounced on by Asensio, who charged down the left wing before crossing for James and it was an easy push into net for the Colombian.

Real wanted more and moments after Danilo hit the post, Morata doubled the lead 2-0. A corner kick was flicked on by Nacho and Morata, stationed at the far post, skillfully floated a header over Leganes goalkeeper Iago Herrerin that bounced softly into the net for the score.

Real were making it look too easy and Zidane’s men were set to cruise to victory when Morata struck to make it 3-0. Kovacic filtered in a pass and Morata, played onside by Siovas, fired in a right-footer to further quiet Butarque.

It was then that Leganes finally woke up and they managed to pull a goal back through Gabriel. Sergio Rico was sprung out wide left with a pass from Siovas and his dash toward the Real goal ended with a cross that was initially blocked by Ramos, but Gabriel was there to score the rebound and cut the deficit to 3-1.

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The goal injected some much needed life into Butarque and not two minutes later the quaint stadium on Madrid’s south side really started jumping, as Luciano Neves tallied to make it a 3-2 match. A Szymanowski corner kick was headed down by Siovas and Luciano Neves, left unmarked, reacted first and redirected the ball in past Navas.

Leganes had Real’s attention and Los Blancos looked to strike back before the break. Lucas Vazquez was all but certain he had restored a two-goal advantage, but Herrerin made a sensational reaction save with his right hand to keep it a one-goal affair.

Zidane likely had come curt words for his team during half-time since to start the second-half Real were back playing the football they showed in the first 25 minutes and it led to their fourth goal of the night. A superb individual play from Asensio set up a free kick right on the edge of the area, and the ball served up was deflected into goal off the arm of Leganes defender Mantovani for a 4-2 lead for Real.

Leganes were not about to throw in the towel though and the hosts continued to press forward in search of a third goal, but the Real back four were able to turn away the Leganes attack at the right moment. Real were poised to put the match to bed as time ticked into the final quarter-hour, but their attack was far from the driving force it was in the first-half, in part due to a firmed up Leganes defence.

Zidane turned to his bench and brought on Isco, Mariano and Luka Modric for James, Morata and Kovacic, respectively. The decision irked the Colombian, who pounded his fist against his chair on the Real bench upon being substituted. But outside of a great solo effort from Lucas Vazquez that was well saved by Herrerin, Real were unable to craft a fifth goal.

However, the damage was already done and now Real turn their attention to the much anticipated Madrid derby versus Atletico on Saturday.

– Match Sheet:

2.- Leganes: Herrerin; Tito (Samu Garcia, min. 54), Bustinza, Mantovani, Siovas, Diego Rico; Gabriel (Bueno, min. 64), Ruben Perez, Timor, Szymanowski (Machis, min. 84), Luciano Neves

4.- Real Madrid: Keylor Navas; Danilo, Ramos, Nacho, Marcelo; Casemiro, Kovacic (Modric, min. 81), James (Isco, min. 71); Lucas, Asensio, Morata (Mariano, min. 78)

Goals: 0-1, min. 15: James; 0-2, min. 18: Morata; 0-3, min. 23: Morata; 1-3, min. 32: Gabriel; 2-3, min. 35: Luciano Neves; 2-4, min. 49: Mantovani (og)

Referee: Alvaro Izquierdo (Catalonia).

Yellow Cards: Gabriel (Min. 58) for Leganes, Bustinaza (Min. 85) for Leganes, Nacho (Min. 89) for Real Madrid

Red cards: None

Stadium: Butarque

Attendance: 10,954