Real Madrid continued their unblemished start under new manager Carlo Ancelotti as they beat Athletic Bilbao 3-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday to move alongside Villarreal at the top of La Liga.
After a promising start from the visitors, who had also won their opening two games, Madrid began to take control midway through the first-half and went ahead when Isco collected Karim Benzema’s lovely scooped pass and lifted the ball beyond Iago Herrerin.
Cristiano Ronaldo then registered his first goal of the season when he nodded Angel Di Maria’s free-kick home in first-half stoppage time and Isco made it 3-0 with a deflected strike in the second period before Ibai Gomez scored a consolation for Athletic late on.
“We have won all three games and this is the right road to having a good year,” Isco told Canal Plus afterwards.
“We have started well and there is still margin to improve. We are improving with every game and this is our objective.”
With all the transfer speculation surrounding Gareth Bale’s imminent arrival in the Spanish capital, it was the absence of one of those rumoured to be leaving the Bernabeu that was the big news pre-match as Mesut Ozil was dropped to the bench by Ancelotti.
After a slow start, Madrid’s passing and movement steadily improved as the first-half wore on and Ronaldo was first to seriously threaten as he saw a low drive tipped around the post from Herrerin before Pepe just failed to turn in Sergio Ramos’s header from the resulting corner.
However, the hosts had to wait just a few minutes more for the opener as Benzema picked out Isco and he controlled and finished calmly to register his second goal in as many games at the Bernabeu since joining from Malaga.
Athletic were enraged moments after the opener, though, as Benat Extebarria’s free-kick struck Sami Khedira’s arm in the wall and referee Carlos Clos Gomez awarded another free-kick just outside the box rather than a penalty. Benat stepped up again and saw his effort whistle just past Diego Lopez’s post.