Karim Benzema shrugged off having two goals ruled out to score twice as Real Madrid came back from behind to beat Eibar 2-1 at home on Saturday in Zinedine Zidane’s 100th La Liga game in charge of the club. Benzema had an early strike disallowed at a barely half-full Santiago Bernabeu for offside and the visitors took a surprise lead in the 39th minute thanks to a cool finish from forward Marc Cardona, who is on loan from Barcelona. Eibar had humbled Madrid 3-0 back in November and looked to be on course to do the double on the deposed European champions until Benzema headed in an equaliser in the 59th minute, shortly after being denied again by the linesman’s flag. Benzema netted another header in the 81st minute to put Madrid in front and the Frenchman passed up two opportunities to clinch a hat-trick in the closing stages, missing the target and then hitting the post in stoppage time. Madrid moved on to 60 points after 31 games thanks to the victory but remain third in the standings, 10 points behind leaders Barcelona who host nearest challengers Atletico Madrid in a top-of-the-table clash later on Saturday.
Benzema defies offside calls to give Madrid victory over Eibar
Published on: April 7, 2019 6:24 AM