Real Madrid 2-0 Girona: Modric and Vinicius halt hosts' winless streak

Wait 5 sec.

Real Madrid 2-0 Girona: Modric and Vinicius halt hosts' winless streakShareReal Madrid brushed aside Girona 2-0 on Sunday to keep the pressure on Barcelona in a tight LaLiga title race.Real Madrid snapped a three-game winless run in LaLiga with a 2-0 victory over Girona and moved level on points with leaders Barcelona.Los Blancos, who scored through Luka Modric and Vinicius Junior, remain behind their rivals due to their head-to-head record after leapfrogging Atletico Madrid.Madrid took a while to settle into the match, with Arnau Martinez forcing Thibaut Courtois into an early save, but the hosts eventually exerted their control.They got their reward in the 41st minute when a clearance from a corner fell to Modric, whose sublime long-range volley from outside the box arrowed into the top corner.Madrid continued to up the pressure after the break and Vinicius almost added a second in the 58th minute. With Paulo Gazzaniga beaten, the Brazilian's effort crashed off the crossbar.Vinicius eventually got on the scoresheet with seven minutes remaining as he superbly combined with Kylian Mbappe. After playing a one-two with the Frenchman, Vinicius poked his shot under Gazzaniga to secure the points. Data Debrief: Leading by exampleIt was a much-needed win for Carlo Ancelotti's side, and Modric set the tone for the victory from the off. His stunning first-half finish was the 11th Madrid have scored from outside the area this season, with no team bettering their tally across the top 5 European leagues (Bayern Munich also have 11).There was no way back for Girona, who managed a meagre 0.05 expected goals (xG) in the second half, which was when Mbappe and Vinicius really found their groove.The Frenchman is the third player to be involved in at least 20 goals in LaLiga 2024-25 (17 goals and three assists), after Robert Lewandowski (22 - 20 goals, two assists) and Rapinha (20 - 13 goals, seven assists).Real Madrid 2-0 Girona: Modric and Vinicius halt hosts' winless streakReal Madrid brushed aside Girona 2-0 on Sunday to keep the pressure on Barcelona in a tight LaLiga title race.Real Madrid snapped a three-game winless run in LaLiga with a 2-0 victory over Girona and moved level on points with leaders Barcelona.Los Blancos, who scored through Luka Modric and Vinicius Junior, remain behind their rivals due to their head-to-head record after leapfrogging Atletico Madrid.Madrid took a while to settle into the match, with Arnau Martinez forcing Thibaut Courtois into an early save, but the hosts eventually exerted their control.They got their reward in the 41st minute when a clearance from a corner fell to Modric, whose sublime long-range volley from outside the box arrowed into the top corner.Madrid continued to up the pressure after the break and Vinicius almost added a second in the 58th minute. With Paulo Gazzaniga beaten, the Brazilian's effort crashed off the crossbar.Vinicius eventually got on the scoresheet with seven minutes remaining as he superbly combined with Kylian Mbappe. After playing a one-two with the Frenchman, Vinicius poked his shot under Gazzaniga to secure the points. Data Debrief: Leading by exampleIt was a much-needed win for Carlo Ancelotti's side, and Modric set the tone for the victory from the off. His stunning first-half finish was the 11th Madrid have scored from outside the area this season, with no team bettering their tally across the top 5 European leagues (Bayern Munich also have 11).There was no way back for Girona, who managed a meagre 0.05 expected goals (xG) in the second half, which was when Mbappe and Vinicius really found their groove.The Frenchman is the third player to be involved in at least 20 goals in LaLiga 2024-25 (17 goals and three assists), after Robert Lewandowski (22 - 20 goals, two assists) and Rapinha (20 - 13 goals, seven assists).