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Real Madrid registered a 2-1 victory at the San Mames against Athletic Bilbao as the capital club picked up all three valuable points to go to the top of the La Liga table.
Rafa Benitez’s side, who managed a narrow win away against Granada last time, were without the injured Sergio Ramos as Raphael Varane and Pepe lined up at the defense for Los Blancos while Mateo Kovacic was handed his first start alongside Luka Modric and Toni Kroos in midfield.
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With 10 points from their first 4 games, the visitors kept their winning momentum going and have dethroned rivals Barcelona from the top of the league standings.
Athletic Bilbao, on the back of a 3-1 loss against Villareal in their last game, started the game on a positive note as striker Aduriz and Raul Garcia caused Real problems aerially early on in the opposition penalty area.
Real dominated possession from the word go but the Basque side’s pressing game kept them on their nerves as there were some errors committed by Benitez’s men that build pressure resulting in some desperate defending amongst a vocal San Mames crowd.
However, it was Real Madrid who drew first blood after a horrible mistake from Bilbao defender San Jose in the 19th minute. The centre back with an aim to play the ball out from the his 18-yard-area, gave possession away criminally and Benzema latched on to it and tucked it past Iraizoz to make it 1-0 for his side.
The hosts sustained their pressing game and grew competitive as Real moved the ball around. Their best chance came through Aduriz who headed down the ball towards the right corner but Navas was there to push it aside from any danger.
Kovacic came close two minutes from half-time as he started off a counter and laid off Benzema on the left side who returned the pass to the Croatian in the penalty area. But Real’s new recruit opted to go for power instead of placement which was saved by Iraizoz.
Benzema strikes again as Real hold onto their narrow lead
Second half resumed in similar fashion with the visitors not allowing Madrid to impose their passing game. The game intensified with each passing minute and tempers unveiled amongst several players as Ronaldo and Pepe both received yellow cards from the official.
Athletic geared up in search of the equaliser against a side that haven’t conceded a single goal in the new season. However, that changed in the 67th minute as Sabin Merin headed home Susaeta’s lovely cross from the right flank into the back of the net to make it 1-1 at the San Mames.
The joy was short lived though as Blancos restored their lead in the 70th minute through Benzema as the Frenchman was squared off by Isco who made no mistake in netting his second of the night.
Real made all three substitutions as Benzema and Isco were replaced by Casemiro and Jese respectively while Lucas Vasquez came late on to replace Kovacic as Madrid looked to hold on to their lead.
Athletic came very close to equalising in the dying minutes through Aduriz but Navas once again denied the tall Spaniard to keep his side in the lead. The Basque side kept on pushing forward for that late equaliser but Benitez’s men saw out all of their threats to extend their winning streak to four games and go top of the La Liga standings one point ahead of Barcelona.
