A Real respite
Los Blancos snap winless run with late goal at Leganes
MADRID: Real Madrid took a small step towards ending their crisis by defeating Leganes 1-0 with an 89th-minute goal by Marco Asensio in the first leg of the Spanish King’s Cup quarter-finals.
Real’s reserve team gave another lacklustre performance on Thursday, but Asensio salvaged the victory with a close-range shot into the top corner after a wellplaced cross by Theo Hernandez.
The result ended Real’s threematch winless streak and eased some of the pressure on coach Zinedine Zidane after poor results.
“If we are able to keep scoring, we will keep gaining confidence,” Asensio said.
“We need to win a few matches in a row and then things will start improving.”
It was an open match at Butarque Stadium just outside of Madrid. Leganes hit the woodwork in the second half, and Real finally broke the deadlock when Asensio beat a defender to Hernandez’s cross from the left side.
“This goal in the end hurt our chances of having a better shot at advancing at the Bernabeu,” Leganes defender Unai Bustinza said.
The second leg is next week. Despite Real’s struggles, Zidane did not use his main squad, resting Cristiano Ronaldo and others for the La Liga game at Deportivo Coruna tomorrow.
Right back Dani Carvajal and central defender Raphael Varane were the only regular starters to begin Thursday’s game. Luka Modric and Isco entered the match in the second half.