Benzema seals victory for Madrid over Eibar

Mixed emotions in the lead up to this La Liga clash. Eibar will have been confident after their 3-0 victory in the reverse fixture, despite a disastrous away record. Real Madrid on the other hand, would contest this clash without the services of Sergio Ramos, who Zidane left out of the matchday squad.

After a lot of anticipation in the lead up to Zidane's 100th match at the helm for Madrid, it was Eibar came out firing on all cylinders at kick-off with Bale unable to even get a sniff of the ball in Madrid's final third.

However, you can never discount the prolific multiple Champions League winners for too long and it didn't take Zidane's side long before they registered their first chance to take the lead. In fact, Karim Benzema, Madrid's top goalscorer for this season so far, thought he had taken the lead but after a second glance, the linesman's flag was up for offside.

Eibar proceeded to use their opportunities wisely but it was Madrid who dominated possession for the next 15 minutes or so. They weren't quite as efficient with it as Eibar, however, registering a total of four offside calls inside 20 minutes.

Eibar seemed to settle into more of a rhythm and possession began to be shared equally. This didn't stop the visitors from continuing to make the most of their chances, which eventually paid off after Escalante slid a delicious ball into Cardona, totally splitting Real Madrid's defence in two.

Cardona may not have been on the pitch at all, had it not been for Pedro Leon's late drop-out. But he was and remained composed and controlled before lifting the ball over an approaching Keylor Navas.

It was the perfect time to sneak ahead in the clash, as half-time crept closer. Real Madrid couldn't respond and their first-half fortunes were capitalised by Gareth Bale overly ambitious attempt at a bicycle kick in the dying seconds of the first-half.

Time for the break and Zidane's team talk will have been crucial. They had 45 minutes remaining to turn things around in order to avoid a second defeat to Eibar, and a second defeat in a row after losing 2-1 to Valencia on the road.

And what a turnaround it was. Real Madrid immediately claimed a stronghold on proceedings after the break, by punishing Eibar when in possession. It didn't take long before Karim Benzema, after several attempts having been called offside, finally had his goal, clicking Madrid into gear.

Eibar managed to contain Madrid after conceding for a considerable amount of time, but Real Madrid proved their worth by taking the game to another level, leaving Eibar behind.

A key component to the shift was the introduction of Lucas Vasquez and especially Toni Kroos who delivered an inch-perfect cross into the box, setting up Benzema for his second. If you hadn't been paying close attention, you might have thought it was a replay of his first goal, as the header was from the same position, finding the same spot in the goal, unmarked again.

Eibar began to panic at this point as Benzema, almost on his own, very nearly forged out a hat-trick for himself. A couple of fantastic saves from Dmitrovic, helped out at times by the post, denied Benzema his third goal in the end but he had done enough to seal the victory for Real Madrid in front of a rowdy home crowd.

Eibar now sit in 11th place, while Real Madrid move to 10 points behind leaders Barcelona, who are also in action on Saturday against Real's bitter rivals Atletico.