Girona 0-3 Real Madrid: 5 Talking Points as Bellingham and Joselu take 10-man Los Blancos up to first place | La Liga 2023-24
Real Madrid secured a comfortable 3-0 win against Girona to climb to the top of La Liga on Saturday, September 30.
Girona entered this contest on the back of a surprise run that saw them sit atop La Liga with 19 points from their seven games before this. Their last outing was a 2-1 win at Villarreal as they looked to maintain their strong start. Manager Michel fielded a strong lineup for this game.
Los Blancos, on the other hand, had earned 18 points from their seven games prior to this. Their last game was a comfortable 2-0 win over Las Palmas as Carlo Ancelotti named a strong lineup for this game.
Real Madrid made a strong start to the game and found themselves two goals to the good inside 25 minutes. Jude Bellingham assisted Joselu for the team's first goal after 17 minutes. Toni Kroos then assisted Aurelien Tchouameni's goal just four minutes later as Girona were brought back down to Earth by Los Blancos.
Both teams fired six shots but Girona had two on target compared to Real Madrid's four. The hosts edged the possession stats 52 to 48 in the first period as they looked to go toe-to-toe with their visitors. However, Real had the upper hand as they led 2-0 at half-time.
Both teams started the second half on a positive note and had the exact same possession stats as the first half. However, Girona seemed to have lost a bit of focus as they managed just one shot on target from seven second-half attempts. Real Madrid, on the other hand, hit the target thrice in eight attempts and even increased their lead.
Bellingham continued in his rich vein of form as he was assisted by Joselu to make it 3-0 after 71 minutes.
Both managers made several changes but the scoreline remained unaltered as Real Madrid climbed to the top of La Liga with a deserved win.
On that note, let's take a look at the five major talking points from this game.
#5. Real Madrid scored two quickfire first-half goals
Having started on the front foot, Real Madrid looked dangerous going forward in the first half. It took them just 17 minutes to open the scoring as Jude Bellingham provided an assist for Joselu to score. The Englishman provided the pass with a perfect trivela pass that beat multiple defenders before finding its way to the Spaniard for an easy tap-in.
Toni Kroos then assisted Tchouameni just four minutes later as Real doubled their advantage. The German delivered a pin-point corner to the center of Girona's 18-yard box and found the Frenchman unmarked. He then nodded in for simple goal to make it 2-0.
#4. Girona kept possession but were unable to break Los Blancos down
Girona kept 52% possession in both halves as they narrowly edged their visitors in the stats sheet. However, they were not as nearly as effective as Los Blancos when it came to finishing their chances in the final third.
With 13 shots throughout the contest, the hosts had just three shots on target - a number that is far from threatening for a team like Real Madrid.
In addition, they missed all three of the major chances they created. This is something no team can afford at any time, let alone against Real.
#3. Bellingham scored Real Madrid's third of the night
Carlo Ancelotti's men looked electric in the second period as they looked to extend their lead and show their dominance. Joselu drove forward and attempted a shot which was saved well by Paulo Gazzaniga.
However, the rebound fell back to him and he cushioned a pass towards Bellingham, who sorted his feet and smashed the ball into the net to make it 3-0 after 71 minutes.
#2. Nacho Fernandez's red card was completely reckless and unnecessary
With Real Madrid leading 3-0 in the 94th minute, Nacho Fernandez was given his marching orders following a horrendous challenge on an opponent. To make matters worse, it was a straight red, meaning he could miss three games.
He went lunging into the tackle and made contact with Portu well after the ball had been released from his feet. The ruling by the referee was a yellow card, but he changed his decision to a red card following VAR intervention.
#1. Real Madrid are the new La Liga leaders after GW8
Prior to this gameweek, Real were in third place but were well within reach of the top two teams as they looked to cover ground. They put in a commanding display against surprise leaders Girona to secure a 3-0 win - a result that takes them up to first palce with 21 points - one ahead of arch-rivals Barcelona.
Los Blancos will host Osasuna in their next league game next weekend.