Jude Bellingham marked his return from injury with his 14th goal of the season so far in Real Madrid's win over Cadiz.
The midfielder had endured a spell on the sidelines with a shoulder injury, but was back in the lineup for Sunday's clash at the Estadio Nuevo Mirandilla. Bellingham capped off the scoring late in the game after two stunning goals from the in-form Rodrygo Goes set Madrid on their way to a crucial three points.
The win sees Los Blancos go top of the La Liga table ahead of Girona's tricky encounter with Athletic Club on Monday evening.
How the game unfolded
The home side impressed in the opening exchanges, showing real bravery in trying to take the game to Real Madrid. Cadiz were almost rewarded for their positive gameplan in the opening ten minutes, with Javier Hernandez curling a free kick just over the crossbar and Alex Fernandez heading wide from a dangerous corner delivery into the box.
Cadiz were made to pay for missing those chances by Rodrygo Goes shortly after. The Brazilian gave Madrid the lead after latching onto the ball on the left hand side of the penalty and miraculously weaving his way past four defenders before firing into the top corner of the net.
Not to be deterred by going behind, Cadiz actually came the closest of the two sides to bagging the second goal of the game before half-time. Marti came close to drawing his side level in the 39th minute, seeing a fierce long-range effort be well saved by Andriy Lunin, who was at full stretch to tip the ball wide of the post.
Real Madrid began to dominate proceedings with much more authority at the start of the second half, with Rodrygo and Jude Bellingham causing Cadiz's backline some problems. One problem the pair created almost resulted in a goal for Los Blancos, as Bellingham twisted past two defenders before feeding the ball through to Rodrygo.
When one-on-one with the goalkeeper however, Rodrygo got caught in two minds about whether to square the ball to his strike partner Joselu or have a pop on goal himself and, in the end, he did neither - tapping waywardly out for a goal kick instead.
On the hour mark, Los Blancos came within a whisker of that all-important second goal through Luka Modric. The midfielder, who had been thoroughly impressive throughout the game, cannoned the ball off the foot of the post from just outside the penalty area.
Moments later, Madrid got their deserved second. Rodrygo was once again the goalscorer for Carlo Ancelotti's side - racking up his eighth goal contribution in his last three games - with the Brazilian curling the ball beautifully into the top right corner of the net after drifting past two Cadiz defenders.
Not too long after it was 3-0, with Jude Bellingham marking his return from injury with his 11th La Liga goal of the season. Rodrygo would turn provider this time, playing the ball to Bellingham on the left of the box before the England superstar drilled across goal and into the bottom right corner of the net.
Real Madrid player ratings (4-3-1-2)
GK - Andriy Lunin - 6/10 - The third-choice goalkeeper continued to impress on Sunday, making one notable save in the first half.
RB - Dani Carvajal - 6/10 - One of the Madrid players who has really found his best form again in recent weeks. He was solid on Sunday again.
CB - Antonio Rudiger - 6/10 - A relatively busy outing for Rudiger, who won four duals and was generally quite good throughout.
CB - Nacho Fernandez - 6/10 - The captain made three clearances and recovered possession for his team on five occasions.
LB - Ferland Mendy - 5/10 - He didn't do too much wrong on the ball, only misplacing one pass during the game.
CM - Federico Valverde - 6/10 - Did the running for his veteran teammates in the middle of the park.
CM - Toni Kroos - 7/10 - Very tidy on the ball throughout, completing 91% of his passes.
CM - Luka Modric - 8/10 - Set up one of Rodrygo's two goals, and was generally vey, very impressive on and off the ball (as per).
AM - Jude Bellingham - 8/10 - Back from his injury and back on the scoresheet. Bellingham looked as sharp as ever on Sunday.
ST - Rodrygo Goes - 9/10 - The Brazilian is firmly back to his best. His first goal was utterly sublime, and he added another and an assist in the second half to cap off a stunning performance.
ST - Joselu - 5/10 - He was a peripheral figure on the day for Madrid as his attacking cohorts stealing the show.
Substitutes
SUB: Dani Ceballos (69' for Modric) - 5/10
SUB: Gonzalo Garcia (78' for Rodrygo) - 5/10
SUB: Lucas Vazquez (78' for Bellingham) - 5/10
SUB: Nicolas Paz (88' for Valverde) - N/A
SUB: Fran Garcia (88' for Carvajal) - N/A
Manager - Carlo Ancelotti - 8/10 - The manager has been rewarded for keeping his faith in Rodrygo in recent games with the forward now having scored five goals in his last three outings after a barren spell in front of goal earlier in the season.
Man of the match: Rodrygo Goes
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This article was originally published on 90min as Cadiz 0-3 Real Madrid: Player ratings as Rodrygo and Bellingham star in win.
