Match Report: Alaves 1-2 Real Madrid
Going into this particular fixture, Real Madrid’s summer purchase had expressed discontentment over his limited playing chances and believed that he should have chosen Barcelona instead. 36 hours later, Dani Ceballos scored twice as Real Madrid managed to avoid another disaster, keeping their La Liga campaign running alive. Zidane’s side breathed a sigh of relief at the end of 90 minutes as they somehow brought 3 points home in a tight game.
Dani Ceballos started instead of Modric in the Real Madrid midfield, accompanying Isco and Casemiro. He found the net on the 10th minute mark. He received the ball from Isco at the edge of the box, avoided a tackle and slotted the ball home at the bottom corner.
Alaves tried levelling things up and managed to do just that. On loan from Barcelona, Munir el Haddadi delivered a perfect cross from the right flank and Manu Garcia, the Alaves captain, headed it home to bring Alaves back into the game.
However, Alaves’ lead did not last long. Goalkeeper Fernando Pacheco parried away a Dani Carvajal effort, only to swerve it into the path of Dani Ceballos, and with the keeper out of his zone, he slammed the ball home.
The second half was frustrating for Real Madrid. Cristiano Ronaldo hit the woodwork in the 47th minute and Isco squandered a great chance. While Alaves looked pretty dangerous on the counter, with substitute Pedraza also striking the woodwork twice, it was strange to see some of the Real Madrid forwards trying to seek personal glory ahead of a sure goalscoring chance when chances fell their way. Manu Garcia was lucky to escape without seeing a red card after blatantly elbowing Lucas Vazquez.
Here’s how Twitter reacted to Ceballos’ dream debut:
#Ceballos just the begining of his Real’s Story ! #RealMadrid #AlavésRealMadrid #LaLiga @fredhermel pic.twitter.com/JAK0OqSTRG
— MikaToub (@Mikatoub) September 23, 2017
#Ceballos is taking his opportunity and stepping up today. Give us the lead not once, but twice. Great first half from him.
— Jamalovîc LM (@JamalovicLM) September 23, 2017
#Ceballos first debut start reminds me of the GOT dragon scene fighting their first war.. #RealMadrid
— Giovanni (@Gioxism) September 23, 2017
FT: #Alaves 1-2 #RealMadrid. Dani #Ceballos is the hero as his brace wins the match for #LosBlancos after a close affair in #LaLiga. pic.twitter.com/UvtcUj94ba
— FlashScore.com (@FlashScore2) September 23, 2017
#Ceballos double enough for unconvincing #RealMadrid https://t.co/mLsNfOocLh pic.twitter.com/0Yga9YTmkk
— Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) September 23, 2017
#Ceballos: “I’m happy to help the team and get the win”
Please check more details from:https://t.co/Pi6Jq1lhNa pic.twitter.com/JH7qxqx8an— All Football App (@allfootballapp) September 24, 2017
