La Liga
Result: Huesca 0-1 Real Madrid
Date: 09 December 2018
Venue: Estadio El Alcoraz
Real Madrid continued their revival in LaLiga with a scrappy 1-0 win over struggling Huesca on Sunday evening. Gareth Bale opened the scoring for Los Blancos in the eighth minute with a typical rocket volley into the bottom corner at the far post, following a cross from Alvaro Odriozola. Huesca were forced into an early change in the 19th minute as fellow midfielder Gonzalo Melero came on for the injured Juan Aguilera. The hosts were not playing like a side rooted at the bottom of the log in attack at least, shifting gears on counter-attacks and keeping Madrid shot-stopper Thibaut Courtois busy. The match was lively towards half-an-hour, though Santiago Solari's charges were having the better chances. However, Los Blancos were having their backs against the wall towards the end of the half and only went into the break with a 1-0 lead. Real could not really get going ten minutes into the second stanza and were unable to defuse the spirit of Huesca who continued to have momentum from their late surge in the first stanza. Solari's troops could not create clear chances and their lead was hanging by a thread as the home side were very swift on counter-attacks but lacked the quality to finish off opportunities. The visitors needed a new spark of energy and brought in Isco 20 minutes before time in place of Luka Modric. Bale should have sealed the game for Los Blancos moments later as he found himself one-on-one with Huesca goalkeeper Aleksandar Jovanovic but the Serbian kept his side in the game with a crucial stop. The visitors were hanging on in the closing minutes of the game, bu they held their nerve to clinch all the three points to keep close distance with the pace setters in the league. 
