Javier Hernandez Completes Perfect Real Madrid Week with Double vs. Celta Vigo

Javier Hernandez capped off his perfect week with two goals that helped Real Madrid to a hard-fought 4-2 victory away to Celta Vigo on Sunday.

The Galician outfit had ended Madrid’s outside hopes of winning the 2013-14 league title in last season’s equivalent fixture. And according to Abraham Martinez of AS, Los Merengues had won just four of the previous 21 encounters between the sides in Vigo during the last eight matches of a campaign.

Carlo Ancelotti had an even worse record at Balaidos. Per Hugo Cerezo of Marca, his three previous visits to the stadium with Juventus, Milan and Madrid, respectively, had resulted in two defeats and a draw (Milan) with no goals scored.

But on the back of his late match-winner in the club’s dramatic Champions League quarter-final success over Atletico Madrid in midweek, it was Hernandez’s goals that again made the difference as Madrid overcame their poor historical record to secure three vital points in this year’s title race.

Ancelotti admitted in his pre-match press conference that he was expecting a highly difficult evening. Celta force a high tempo on their opponents, whoever they may be, and that was certainly the case on Sunday.

The game began at a frenetic pace, with both teams going toe-to-toe, trading attack after attack with neither defence afforded much protection by those in front of them.

It was Hernandez, Cristiano Ronaldo and James Rodriguez who spearheaded Madrid’s forward forays. And after the first two had combined in the build-up to the first goal for Ancelotti’s side, scored by Toni Kroos, it was Hernandez and Rodriguez who split apart the Celta defence for the second.

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James: Chicharito was patient, he deserves this - http://t.co/fEzT0K0ZaC pic.twitter.com/rYCOPkry0K

— Inside La Liga (@InsideLaLiga) April 26, 2015"

Hernandez received the ball, turned and played a slightly short pass into Rodriguez, who returned it with a neat, first-time flick. Hernandez headed the ball back into the Colombian’s path and then raced into the area onto the second return to fire low past Sergio Alvarez at the near post.

That strike put Madrid 2-1 up just 24 minutes in, but there were still two more goals to come before half-time. They went in 3-2 ahead at the interval thanks to a deflected strike from Rodriguez.

Celta began the second half on the front foot and forced their visitors deep into their own half. This wasn’t a leading team, sitting back to take control of space rather than the ball; there was nothing measured in Madrid’s defending. There were awkward moments and goal-mouth scrambles, while Toni Kroos was lucky not to concede a penalty after bringing down the excellent Fabian Orellana inside the area.

The pressure was building, and Ancelotti appeared reluctant to change things in order to tighten up his defence. The home crowd could sense that a goal was coming, but then, in a moment, the course of the match shifted in Madrid’s favour.

Sergio Ramos strode forward elegantly out of defence and provided a perfectly weighted pass in behind the defence to Hernandez, who finished expertly over the diving Alvarez to stretch his side’s advantage to two with 20 minutes left to play.

Celta coach Eduardo Berizzo immediately removed Orellana, presumably with Wednesday’s key match at home to Malaga in mind. Five minutes later, Hernandez was replaced by Pepe as Madrid finally battened down the hatches to see out the result.

The hearty hugs and handshakes that greeted him when he reached the bench were evidence of his popularity within the squad. That was reinforced by Rodriguez’s comments after the match, as per SocialRMadrid:

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James: "Everything that happens to Chicharito now is great. He has had a lot of patience."

— SocialRMadrid (@SocialRMadrid) April 26, 2015"

Hernandez had not been given much playing time until recently. Indeed, as per Soccerway, he had seen just 246 minutes of league action prior to his start against Eibar on April 11.

But even when he wasn’t receiving opportunities, he continued to impress the coaching staff with his attitude and application in training. “He hasn’t played much, but because of his professionalism, he was ready when it mattered,” Ancelotti noted in his pre-match press conference on Saturday.

And the result of that hard work has been clear in recent weeks. He scored against Eibar, provided an assist in the win over Malaga last weekend, struck the decisive goal against Atletico in midweek and then notched two important goals on Sunday.

The question now is whether his performances and goals have been sufficient to see the Mexico striker retain his place in the starting XI once Karim Benzema returns from injury.

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Ancelotti: “Everyone’s place in this team is not 100% sure. Chicharito, Varane, Pepe, Ramos, Benzema, James, everyone has to fight for it."

— SocialRMadrid (@SocialRMadrid) April 26, 2015"

Ancelotti explained before the match that he expects to have Benzema back in action for the first leg of the Champions League semi-final away to Juventus on May 5. The likelihood is that the Frenchman will be immediately restored to the side, but Hernandez still has two more matches to make an even stronger claim for continued inclusion.

The 26-year-old does, however, seem happy just to be involved during the final stretch of the season with a team still fighting for major honours.

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Chicharito: “I live in the here and now. I am a Real Madrid player and I just want to enjoy playing with the best team in the world."

— SocialRMadrid (@SocialRMadrid) April 26, 2015"

His role over the course of the campaign has not been particularly prominent. But if he can continue to make decisive contributions between now and the end of the season, Hernandez will be able to look back on his spell in Madrid with great fondness, regardless of what the future holds for him.