Real Madrid vs. Espanyol: Winners and Losers from Liga Game
Real Madrid ran out comfortable 3-0 winners at home over Espanyol on Saturday in La Liga, extending their lead to four points at the top of the table in the process.
James Rodriguez, Gareth Bale and Nacho were the scorers as Real romped to an easy win over their opponents, not even looking under any pressure when they went down to 10 men in the second half.
Here are all our winners and losers from the fixture.
Winner: James Rodriguez
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Colombian James Rodriguez started the match in terrific form and was one of Real's better performers up until his substitution early in the second half.
James' goal was well-taken following a run into the penalty area, something he provides Real with on a regular basis from the second line, and he was continually looking to play through-passes and give his team-mates shooting chances
Rodriguez was subbed when his side went down to 10 men.
Loser: Kiko Casilla
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Espanyol goalkeeper Kiko Casilla established himself as Spain's third-choice international stopper earlier this season, but after making his debut for the national team it hasn't gone tremendously well for him.
He didn't make any glaring errors against Real Madrid, but nor did his opponents have to work particularly hard to beat him: a simple near-post finish which went under his body, a free-kick (Casilla had no chance here) and a low, left-footed finish which again went underneath him.
The Espanyol man wasn't well protected, and his team offered little at the other end, but overall more would have been expected from him in a high-profile game. Only one save from Isco was notable late on. Three goals conceded from five shots on target isn't a great return at all.
Winner: Raphael Varane
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Central defender Raphael Varane got another chance to start with Sergio Ramos absent from the starting lineup, and once again showed he is inarguably Real's best defender.
Why he continues to be third-choice is a mystery, experience aside, but the Frenchman didn't put a foot wrong once more as he showed maturity and composure on the ball which is matched by few in Europe.
Varane contributed to the clean sheet, showed a good turn of pace to make a couple of interceptions around the penalty box and generally looked extremely assured once more.
Loser: Fabio Coentrao
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Portuguese left-back Fabio Coentrao wasn't due to start the match, but came into the starting XI when Marcelo dropped out late on due to a back problem.
The stand-in didn't have too much of a problem in the first half as his team dominated. He would have been hopeful of getting a positive 90 minutes in, contributing going forward and getting some much-needed game time—but that all ended just into the second half.
Racing into a 50-50 challenge, Coentrao just reached the ball second and was shown a straight red card by the referee, a poor decision but one which costs Coentrao the chance to stay in the team again.
Loser: Espanyol's Lack of Effort, Heart and Ability
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It's hard to just pick out one member of Espanyol's team or staff who should come in for criticism for the display, when the fact is that everybody associated with the team in this game should be disappointed with the level of performance.
At 0-0 early in the game, it was understandable that, as the smaller club and away side, they would sit off. However, when chasing the game a goal down, then two and even with Real Madrid losing a man, Espanyol never changed their approach, never had any conviction that they might get back into the game and very, very infrequently committed getting more than two men forward from midfield.
It was slightly gutless from the mid-table team, and they got exactly what they deserved from the match—a resounding defeat.
