Real Madrid came back from a two-goal deficit to earn a 3-2 win at Villarreal during Sunday's La Liga action.
Manuel Trigueros and Cedric Bakambu gave the hosts a deserved two-goal lead in the span of six second-half minutes, but Gareth Bale pulled one back in the 64th minute.
Referee Jesus Gil Manzano handed Real a controversial penalty after 74 minutes, which Cristiano Ronaldo converted, and substitute Alvaro Morata gave his side the lead with a strong header seven minutes from time.
As shared by Real Madrid's Twitter account, manager Zinedine Zidane dropped Bale into the starting XI, even though the Welshman only recently returned from injury:
The hosts started well, but the first chance fell to Ronaldo, who cut inside and fired wide after just a few minutes.Samu Castillejo tried to mimic the Portugal international, but his effort cleared the Real goal by some distance. Casemiro did well to break up a promising passing move, and Keylor Navas produced the first real save of the match, a superb stop on Mario Gaspar.
Gaspar showed his defensive quality as well, pushing Ronaldo off the ball to stop an attack. The Portugal international didn't find much space to work with early on, and the out-of-form Karim Benzema was almost invisible.
Bakambu almost reached a searching cross, but Casemiro again intervened, and Sergio Asenjo came off his line to claim a cross from Ronaldo.
Castillejo impressed against the Real defense with quick dribbles, but every time he beat his man, Casemiro was there.
Asenjo made a great save to deny Benzema the opener, palming away a good header, but the Yellow Submarine goalkeeper's match soon came to an end, per Sky Sports Statto:
Jonathan dos Santos went close with a deflected effort, and Castillejo was unlucky his volley cleared the bar. Bakambu was the next man to try his luck but found Navas in his path.
Benzema put Andres Fernandez to the test for the first time, and Sergio Ramos made two great stops in quick succession, denying both Castillejo and Bakambu.
Ronaldo drew the ire of the crowd with a clear dive that somehow won his side a free-kick, but Toni Kroos' delivery only found Pepe, who was offside.
At half-time, Matt Jones of Bleacher Report UK feared Villarreal's inability to convert their chances would come back to haunt them, likening the match to Atletico Madrid's loss against Barcelona earlier on Sunday:
Benzema and Ronaldo had half-chances to start the second 45 minutes, but the goals fell on the other side of the pitch.
First, Castillejo set up Trigueros with a smart header in the 50th minute, and he gave Navas no chance. Just six minutes later, Bruno Soriano played in Bakambu with a fantastic pass, and the striker expertly finished the opportunity.
Sportswriter Sid Lowe had no problems with the 2-0 lead:
Zidane responded by introducing Isco, and Real started pushing hard for a goal. Ronaldo hit the post after 59 minutes, but Benzema missed the rebound.
At the other end of the pitch, Castillejo nearly added a deserved third goal but hit the side-netting instead.
Los Blancos needed something and found it through Bale, who finished a quick move with a powerful header. Per WhoScored.com, he has been phenomenal when fit to play:
Ronaldo had a great chance, but he missed the target completely with his volley after Benzema did the hard work.
Real kept pushing and were eventually bailed out by the official, who gave the visitors an absurdly soft penalty. Soriano supposedly handled the ball, but as shared by Football Espana, there was nothing in it:
Ronaldo didn't care one bit, as he kept his cool and pulled his side level in the 74th minute.
Real were the dominant force entering the final 10 minutes, and Zidane boosted his team's chances by bringing on the in-form Morata in the 77th minute. The former Juventus man needed just six minutes to make an impact, heading home a cross from Marcelo.
Ramos missed a great chance to make it 4-2, as his header flew over the goal, and Navas produced an excellent save on Dos Santos to preserve the win. In the final minutes, Bale limped off the pitch, although the change seemed to be more of a precaution than anything else.
After the match, Zidane did not elaborate on the controversial penalty, per football writer Dermot Corrigan:
Real's next outing will be against Las Palmas on Wednesday, while Villarreal will visit Osasuna on the same night.
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