David Alaba scored with his first touch from a direct free-kick in the second half to give Real Madrid a winning start in La Liga against Almeria.
Ferland Mendy was substituted by Alaba with the score tied at 1-1 after 74 minutes.
Carlo Ancelotti was taking advantage of a pause in the game caused by Luka Modric winning a foul on the outside of the Almeria area.
Alaba strode forward and attempted it. The Austrian defender curled the free kick over the wall, it hit the post, and entered the back of the net.
How Did The Game Progress?
After a vastly changed team fell behind against freshly promoted Almeria early on, Madrid was forced to bring in the first team cavalry.
💪💜 A @David_Alaba STUNNER and a comeback in our @LaLigaEn debut!
👇 Re-live it all here!#AlmeríaRealMadrid— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) August 15, 2022
After six minutes, Antonio Rudiger made a mistake that allowed Almeria a chance to score.
Largie Ramazini slipped in behind Rudiger and lobbed the ball past Thibaut Courtois to make it 1-0. Rudiger was two steps behind his central defense partner Nacho when Inigo Eguaras flicked the ball over the top to Ramazini.
Aurelien Tchouameni, a fellow debutant, attempted to cheer him up by making a mistake that, had Almeria not missed the next opportunity, would have been just as severe.
He was caught in possession while playing in the Casemiro role, but when Sadiq Umar rushed on to the ball, he blazed over.
As the half went on, Rudiger got better, and his through ball for Benzema was worthy of a goal, but his delicate effort was saved.
He also came close with a header, but Fernando Martinez of Almeria denied him.
While Benzema’s misfires meant bad news for Madrid, others decided to step up.
On the hour, Lucas Vazquez was the first to level. Vinicius attacked the Almeria defense, and after Fernando made a save, Lucas was the one to score.
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Madrid finally made a breakthrough with their 23rd shot, their 12th on goal, and as was expected, Vinicius was the one who set it up.
It was difficult for Almeria, who had performed well upon returning to the top level, but Madrid’s bench outperforms most of the clubs in the division’s starting XI.
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