Real Madrid surged to the top of LaLiga on Saturday afternoon, after defeating Deportivo Alaves 2-1 at the Estadio de Mendizorroza.
LaLiga
Result: Deportivo Alaves 1-2 Real Madrid
Date: 30 November 2019
Venue: Estadio de Mendizorroza
Click through the gallery to see action from Real's win at Alaves.
Los Blancos manager Zinedine Zidane made four changes to the side that played to a 2-2 draw with Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday, with goalkeeper Alphonse Areola, Eder Militao, Luka Modric and Gareth Bale all coming to the fold, while Eden Hazard and Raphael Varane were not included in the match-day squad.
Los Blancos were on the front foot early on and had chances to go ahead first with Bale hitting the post with a downward header before Isco squandered a glorious chance after 18 minutes after being played through on goal by Dani Carvajal.
Madrid continued to ask questions of the Alaves defence and they were nearly rewarded with 14 minutes remaining of the first stanza after Casemiro let fly with a goal-bound strike from range but shot-stopper Fernando Pacheco pulled off a stunning save at full-stretch towards the top corner.
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Madrid came back fired up from the break, as they eventually broke the deadlock seven minutes into the second stanza thanks to a stunning header by Sergio Ramos from Toni Kroos' well weighted free-kick for his third league goal of the campaign.
However, Alaves were awarded a penalty in the 63rd minute after Ramos went from hero to villain by bringing down Joselu inside the box with a trailing elbow that hit the striker's face. Former Arsenal striker Lucas Perez sent Areola the wrong way with a low drilled effort from 12-yards to level matters.
Garitano's troops lacked concentration at the back after equalising, as Los Blancos restored their lead four minutes later after Carvajal bundled home a rebound over the line from Isco's header that ricocheted off the inside of the post.
Alaves came close to snatching the equaliser from two successive corners in stoppage time but Marcelo crucially blocked Perez's shot from close range and Areola smothered Manu Garcia's header to preserve a 2-1 win, as Los Blancos move top of the table.
