Rodrygo’s double ‘makes the difference’ as Real seal victory
MADRID: Rodrygo fired La Liga leaders Real Madrid to a 2-0 win over Athletic Bilbao with a superb brace on Sunday to restore their eight-point advantage on Barcelona.
Earlier Cristhian Stuani’s last-gasp strike earned Girona an entertaining 3-2 win over Real Betis, keeping the minnows on track for Champions League qualification.
After champions Barca, second, beat Las Palmas on Saturday to put pressure on Carlo Ancelotti’s side, Los Blancos responded with a solid showing at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Without suspended Brazil forward Vinicius Junior, his compatriot Rodrygo made the difference with two superb strikes against an Athletic with one eye on next weekend’s Copa del Rey final against Mallorca.
“He played very well, he made the difference, he was able to score early, he has a lot of quality in his moves, it’s what he has to do,” Ancelotti told reporters.
Ancelotti said he was not concerned that Rodrygo, who had only netted once in his last 13 matches across all competitions, was inconsistent in front of goal.
“There are very isolated cases of forwards who score all the time, like [Karim] Benzema or Cristiano [Ronaldo],” continued the Italian.
“With experience Rodrygo will improve in that aspect, he’s still young and plays with a lot of intensity, and sometimes because of that youth I ask him to do a lot of work, so that’s why sometimes he’s not as fresh in front of goal.”
Rodrygo broke the deadlock after just seven minutes with a strike from just outside the area, beyond the reach of Julen Agirrezabala and into the top corner.
Rodrygo netted his and Madrid’s second after 73 minutes at the end of a slick move, ghosting inside Vivian and finishing at the near post.
La Liga’s joint top scorer Jude Bellingham, making his return after a twomatch suspension for dissent, had a quiet night — quite literally at one point.
STUTTGART STEAL A POINT
Deniz Undav scored in the eighth minute of stoppage time to snatch a point for Stuttgart, pulling the home side level in a pulsating 3-3 Bundesliga draw with visiting Heidenheim on Sunday.
The match swung wildly late, Heidenheim’s Tim Kleindienst scoring two goals in two minutes before Undav’s last-gasp equaliser.
The visitors were reduced to 10 men after six added minutes, Nikola Dovedan seeing straight red for a rough tackle on Maximilian Mittelstaedt.
Meanwhile Darmstadt rallied to draw 2-2 at Bochum.