Real Betis vs Real Madrid. Spanish La Liga.
Benito VillamarinAttendance53,533.
Monday 19 February 2018 09:12, UK
Real Madrid came from 2-1 down at half-time to cap off a successful week with a 5-3 victory over Real Betis in La Liga on Sunday.
After thrashing Real Sociedad 5-2 last weekend and beating PSG 3-1 in the Champions League in midweek, Zinedine Zidane's men saw off Betis the hard way.
Marco Asensio handed Madrid the perfect start inside 11 minutes but Aissa Mandi (34) headed Betis level before Junior Firpo forced Nacho (37) into an unfortunate own goal to give the home side a surprise lead.
Madrid looked stuck for ideas but Sergio Ramos (51) headed them level from a corner and Asensio (59) swept home his second following a quick break down the right wing. Cristiano Ronaldo (66) thundered the visitors into a two-goal cushion before Sergio Leon (85) reduced the deficit to set up a grandstand finish.
However, substitute Karim Benzema scored Real's fifth in injury-time to seal the points for the visitors.
Real began on the front foot and took the lead when Ronaldo was given far too much space and Antonio Adan could only parry his shot into the path of Asensio, who finished with a firm header.
But the goal only served to push Betis forward as Madrid were forced to defend countless home attacks.
Keylor Neves pulled a save out of the top drawer to stop Joaquin levelling and marking the 700th game of his senior career with a fantastic free-kick strike.
Madrid's problems grew as Marcelo hobbled off with what appeared to be a hamstring injury and the equaliser that Betis deserved arrived after 33 minutes.
Joaquin's delivery again caused problems and Mandi attacked the cross to beat Navas with a close-range header. Just three minutes later, Betis were ahead.
Junior, playing only his second senior game, galloped onto Joaquin's pass and went for goal.
Navas could parry his effort and the ball struck Nacho for the defender to turn into his own net.
The Real comeback was triggered when Lucas swung his corner towards the penalty spot where it was met by the head of Ramos, who bulleted home his second league goal of the season.
The visitors were ahead after 59 minutes when Dani Carvajal rampaged down the right flank and crossed for Asensio to sidefoot home his second.
Ronaldo was on the scoresheet six minutes later as he took Casemiro's pass and flashed a shot past Adan as the Betis defence stood off him.
Five minutes remained when Leon turned home Junior's cross, but Betis were finished for good when substitute Benzema notched just his third league goal of the season.
Despite his advancing years, the 36-year-old was in spectacular form, especially in the first half, where his clever passing and expert set-pieces handed Betis the advantage in the game. His cross for Mandi's goal was his 84th assist in La Liga, which only puts himself behind Lionel Messi, Dani Alves, Xavi and Ronaldo in the all-time assist list.
Real Madrid are back in front of the Sky Sports cameras on Wednesday at 5.45pm when they take on Leganes in La Liga while Betis host Levante next Monday.
