Real Madrid did enough to beat lowly Granada 2-0 in LaLiga on Saturday, a game that will not live long in the memory of an underwhelmed Santiago Bernabeu Stadium crowd on a chilly evening in the Spanish capital.
The win takes Madrid to the top of the LaLiga standings on 38 points, ahead of Girona, who beat Valencia 2-1 earlier on Saturday, on goal difference.
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Atletico Madrid and Barcelona, who meet on Sunday, are third and fourth on 31 points.
Granada, who are second from bottom on seven points with one win in 15 games, posed no threat to a Madrid who showed no sign of weakness despite missing several regular starters due to injuries.
The hosts dominated proceedings from the start and had 71% of ball possession, while Granada did not manage a single attempt on goal.
Madrid opened the scoring in the 26th minute when Brahim Díaz played a neat one-two with Toni Kroos, collecting the German’s clever pass to beat the offside trap before gleefully firing in past goalkeeper Raúl Fernández.
“It was a magic pass from Toni [Kroos],” Díaz said. “He sees what nobody else does. I’m really happy to help the team however I can. If it’s opening the scoring, even better.
“I’m really happy, above all with the game we played. We dominated the game. And personally I’m happy to score and create the chance that Rodrygo scored.”
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With Madrid showing no urgency the match all but went to sleep until Díaz showed up again in the 57th minute to fight for a ball on the left side of the box, winning the challenge to cross for Jude Bellingham, whose point-blank strike was brilliantly denied by Fernandez.
However, Rodrygo was well-positioned at the far post to pounce on the goalkeeper’s rebound and unleash a bullet strike to extend the locals’ lead. The Brazilian has now scored in five consecutive games in all competitions racking up seven goals and four assists in that time.
“He’s back to his best level, scoring a lot of goals,” Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti said of Rodrygo. “People say he only scores on the left, in the second half I put him on the right, where I thought he’d have more space.
“He scored after a great move with Joselu, Bellingham, Brahim, it was a good goal.”
ESPN’s Alex Kirkland contributed to this report.