Real take flight at home
Rodriguez, Bale score twice as Los Blancos sparkle in Benitez’s first game at Bernabeu
MADRID: Gareth Bale silenced his critics by scoring twice as Rafael Benitez got his first win as Real Madrid coach with a 5-0 thrashing of Real Betis.
Benitez’s men were held to an embarrassing 0-0 draw by newly promoted Sporting Gijon last weekend, but there was to be no repeat as Bale headed home James Rodriguez’s cross inside two minutes. Rodriguez then fired an audacious free- kick from a narrow angle into the far corner of the net to double the advantage seven minutes before the break.
Bale turned provider at the start of the second period for Karim Benzema to head home the third before Rodriguez produced another spectacular effort with an overhead kick to make it 4-0. Betis had a great opportunity to at least mark their visit to the Bernabeu with a consolation when Raphael Varane was penalised for upending Jorge Molina.
However, Keylor Navas made the most of his opportunity despite the ongoing speculation that Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea could join Madrid in the coming days by diving low to his left to save Ruben Castro’s penalty. And Bale had the final word with a fierce left-footed effort that clipped the post on its way into the net.
BENITEZ DELIGHTED WITH BALE’S DISPLAY
Real Madrid boss Rafael Benitez has hailed the impact made by Gareth Bale as the Welshman scored twice in Los Blancos 5-0 win over Real Betis on Saturday. Benitez has been questioned early in his reign at the Santiago Bernabeu for playing Bale in a more central role.
However, there was no such problem in Benitez’s first home game in charge as Bale opened the scoring after just two minutes before sealing the rout with a sweet strike from distance late on. “I liked Bale’s performance, but also that of James, Cristiano, who had most shots at goal and Keylor. We had a lot of positive things and a few small details to correct. The most positive thing can be summed up by the first five minutes: intensity, aggression, ambition and end product.”