The collapsed Spanish soccer champions Real Madrid suffered a
shock 2-1 home defeat by Alaves, on Saturday, after goalkeeper
Thibaut Courtois made a disastrous mistake and Eden Hazard,
the most valuable player in the club’s history, was injured again.
And Lucas Perez gave Alaves the lead in the fifth minute with a
penalty kick after a handball against Nacho, the fifth penalty
kick awarded to Real Madrid in the league in 3 games.
Hazard missed an opportunity to realize when he fired directly
at Alaves goalkeeper Fernando Pacheco, then the referee ignored
his demand for a penalty before leaving the field due to a 28-minute
muscle injury.
Joselo, the former Real Madrid youth player, took advantage of
Courtois ‘mistake to double Alaves’ lead at the start of the second
half after he had a missed pass from the Belgian goalkeeper
outside the penalty area to put the ball into the empty goal.
Casemiro narrowed the lead for Real Madrid in the 86th minute
from close range, and Isco almost scored the equalizer in the sixth
minute of stoppage time, but his shot rebounded from the crossbar
to lose Real Madrid for the third time in 10 league matches.
Zinedine Zidane’s team ranks fourth in the standings with 17
points from 10 matches, 6 points behind leaders Real Sociedad
and Atletico Madrid in second place and Alaves rose to ninth
place with 13 points.
