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Cacereño 0-1 Real Madrid: With a goal from Rodrygo, Carlo Ancelotti’s men beat third division rivals in the third round of the Copa del Rey… but it’s another bad start for Eden Hazard
- Real Madrid beat Cacereño of the third division on Tuesday at the Príncipe Felipe
- Carlo Ancelotti’s team gets into the Copa del Rey round of 16 after Rodrygo’s goal
- But there was another unfortunate chapter in winger Eden Hazard’s career at Real Madrid.
- They took it away 20 minutes from the end and Rodrygo scored almost immediately
There was another unfortunate chapter in Eden Hazard’s Real Madrid career as he struggled to make an impact against third-tier Cacereño and saw his side finally take them down a minute after he was sent off.
Hazard started his second game all season but was taken off with 20 minutes to go and barely gone when Rodrgyo scored the winner to put Real Madrid through to the round of 16. The frizzy finish was worthy of winning any Cup match.
It was Rodrygo’s eighth goal in all competitions and the way he swapped between Luis Aguado and Álvaro Clausi was the touch of class Madrid had been waiting for all night as they battled to subdue their lively rivals.
Real Madrid beat third division side Cacereño 1-0 at the Principe Felipe on Tuesday night.
Brazilian striker Rodrygo (pictured) scored the only goal of the match with a curling shot
The result moves a heavily rotated Los Blancos team to the last 16 sides of the Copa del Rey
Asked before the game if he would have a hard time on a three-hour bus ride to Cáceres, Carlo Ancelotti said he was looking forward to looking out the window at the Spanish countryside.
The return trip after Rodrygo’s goal will be just as relaxing, but Madrid had to suffer.
They had the ball in the net in the 13th minute, but Lucas Vázquez’s goal was correctly marked offside because Marco Asensio had crossed from offside.
Madrid took a hit in the 20th minute when Nacho limped off after a kick to the ankle from Aguado.
He limped back, but Cacereño was making things uncomfortable for the visitors and the 7,000 packed fans at the Estadio Príncipe Felipe.
Aurelien Tchouameni slipped into Aguado and received a yellow card. And Samu Manchón then followed Álvaro Odriozola and was also booked.
The field of play was beginning to narrow a bit and with Hazard completely out of the game on the left of the Madrid attack, the European champions had a hard time.
Cacereño dared and Andriy Lunin had to go down well to stop David Grande’s shot that slipped inside the post. Carmelo Merenciano forced another save after his own corner came out again.
The reprimanded Camavinga came out at halftime with the entry of Fede Valverde. Antonio Rudiger was also in the place of Eder Militao. There was another change after five minutes and this time it was forced by Odriozola who had a hamstring problem.
Hazard remained largely anonymous. When he touched the ball he showed his class but barely touched it, lost between the lines, not found by his teammates, and without the spark and wit to lean into space and claim possession.
He wasn’t alone in having a bad night: as he returned the ball to Rudiger, the former Chelsea defender sliced the ball out of play as the Mexican wave swept through the stadium.
But it was another unfortunate chapter written in the career of underachieving winger Eden Hazard.
Real manager Carlo Ancelotti (left) awarded Rodrygo for his goal with a kiss after the match
In the 67th minute Hazard came out and Álvaro Rodríguez, 18, entered. A lot is expected from the Uruguayan who is already an under-20 international. The change worked immediately, and with Hazard off the field, Rodrygo doubled the winner.
Ancelotti had left Vinicius, Karim Benzema, Dani Carvajal, Toni Kroos, Thibaut Courtois and Ferland Mendy in the Spanish capital and got away with it, just like that.
Alcorcón, Real Unión, Leganés have killed giants against them in the last two decades. The first round proper of the cup can be a trap for the big teams, but they had the advantage and went through to the next round.