Darder slides in and chops Diaz down from behind as he leads a breakaway, earning himself a yellow card. That was a very poor tackle.
89'
The game is getting stretched now as tired legs and the red card see space open up on the pitch. There's time yet for another goal.
87'
It's now a 4-4-1 for Los Blancos, with Valverde and Diaz out wide and Militao at left-back as the hosts look to hold on to what they have.
85'
Éder Militão enters the game and replaces Vinícius Júnior.
Brahim Díaz enters the game and replaces Rodrygo.
Vinicius is sacrificed as Zidane brings on Militao to compensate for the loss of Mendy at left-back.
Rodrygo also goes off for Diaz in the closing stages as Zidane introduces fresh legs.
83'
F. Mendy gets a second yellow card and is sent off.
Óscar Melendo enters the game and replaces J. Calleri.
RED CARD! Mendy leaves his studs on Gomez's ankle clumsily and is shown a second yellow card! He's off and Madrid are down to 10 men!
Calleri is replaced by Melendo in response to Mendy's sending-off as Machin chases an equaliser.
79'
K. Benzema has scored a goal for Real Madrid! Assist by F. Valverde.
GOAL!! Real Madrid double their lead! Valverde is played through on the right and works a yard cleverly before crossing into Benzema, who fires home from the edge of the six-yard box! It's 2-0 to Madrid!
Valverde made an excellent run to split the Espanyol defence and showed good footwork to engineer some space before finding Benzema with a delicate cross.
75'
Substitute forward Campuzano has a pop from outside the box, but it's blocked away.
74'
F. Valverde gets yellow.
Valverde clatters into Campuzano and picks up his team's third yellow card of the day.
73'
Pol Lozano enters the game and replaces Granero.
Granero is the next man to leave the pitch as Lozano takes his place to provide fresh legs for Espanyol.
Minute
Description
71'
L. Modrić enters the game and replaces T. Kroos.
Zidane makes his first change, swapping one experienced midfielder for another as Kroos makes way for Modric.
65'
Víctor Campuzano enters the game and replaces Wu Lei.
Machin makes his first change of the game, replacing Wu with Campuzano up front.
63'
F. Mendy gets yellow.
Mendy goes in with a very clumsy challenge on Gomez, missing the ball completely and taking the wide-man's legs out. A clear yellow card offence.
61'
Fernando Calero gets yellow.
Calero leaves a leg trailing and cynically trips Rodrygo up, earning himself a yellow card.
58'
Kroos smashes a low effort well wide of the target under pressure from just outside the box. He never quite got set for that.
51'
The ball is cut back towards Mendy on the edge of the box, but the left-back's effort on his weaker right foot is a swinger and flies well over the bar!
49'
The hosts put together a sweeping attack from right to left that starts in their own half and ends with Benzema sliding the ball through for a narrow Mendy in the box, but his pass is too heavy and the left-back can't get on the end of it.
47'
Casemiro looks to have been outpaced by Darder as the Espanyol midfielder sprints into the Real Madrid box, but the Brazilian slides in to make a terrific last-ditch challenge and wins the ball cleanly.
46'
We're back under way for the second half!
45' +3
HALF-TIME: REAL MADRID 1-0 ESPANYOL
45' +2
Espanyol have a free-kick in a promising position after a needless barge from Mendy near the corner flag. Granero stands over it and delivers, but it comes to nothing.
45'
Kroos' corner from the left finds Casemiro at the near post, but the Brazilian's flicked header from a tight angle is blocked away.
43'
Espanyol win a corner down the left after a neat passage of play, with Vila's cross looping over Courtois and landing just on the roof of the net! It comes to nothing, however.
39'
David Lopez is fouled by Vinicius - who is on a yellow card. No second booking is forthcoming, but the Espanyol defender stays down and receives treatment before returning to the fray.
37'
R. Varane has scored a goal for Real Madrid! Assist by K. Benzema.
Benzema may have been looking for Casemiro with his pass, but Varane got on the end of it and finished emphatically!
GOAL! Real Madrid take the lead! Varane, of all people, is played through on the left side of the box after a corner is cleared and the centre-half guides a confident effort into the bottom-right corner on his weaker left foot! It's 1-0 to Madrid!
35'
Espanyol's primary routes to goal appear to be either a long ball towards the front two or crosses from wide areas. The former is not proving a fruitful avenue, however, with Ramos and Varane winning their aerial duels thus far.
33'
Carvajal bursts forward through midfield and switches play to the left expertly. Vinicius crosses into the box, but it's cut out once again.
31'
Vinicus sells two defenders with a lovely Cruyff turn, but his cross leaves something to be desired as it's easily hacked clear ahead of Benzema.
29'
Both sides seem to have woken up a little after that exchange of shots, with a little more energy injected into the passages of play that have followed.
25'
It's been over 10 minutes since Madrid crafted their last chance and Zidane won't be happy with his side's showing to this point.
23'
Espanyol can't seem to keep hold of the ball on the rare occasions that they have it, and have recorded just over 30% possession so far.
21'
The last few minutes have been marred by clumsy tackles from both sides, and Espanyol waste a free-kick in a promising position as Espinosa fouls Varane as the delivery comes in.
17'
Vinícius Júnior gets yellow.
Vinicius runs through on goal down the left side of the box and Diego Lopez comes out to claim the ball ahead of the Brazilian, sending him and an Espanyol defender tumbling to the turf. The referee deems the young winger guilty of a foul on the goalkeeper, and books him. That seems a harsh decision.
15'
Granero gets yellow.
Granero, one of Espanyol's former Real Madrid players, is booked for a late challenge on Kroos, catching the top of the German's foot with his studs.
10'
A couple of fouls in the middle third of the pitch disrupt the flow of the game as a scrappy period ensues.
8'
Madrid have been completely dominant in the early stages without really having to work too hard. They're still in second gear at the moment, but Espanyol are more than happy to cede possession and territory and sit in a low block.
5'
Espanyol launch a counter-attack down their right flank, but Gomez's cross is much too heavy and misses everyone in the middle.
3'
The pattern of the game is quickly established as Madrid stretch the pitch and pen Espanyol back into their own third. Casemiro has a speculative effort which is blocked, before Rodrygo fizzes in a dangerous low ball that is just about dealt with.
1'
We're under way at the Bernabeu!
Hello and welcome to our LIVE coverage of the LaLiga fixture between Real Madrid and Espanyol at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Real Madrid XI (4-3-3): Thibaut Courtois; Dani Carvajal, Raphael Varane, Sergio Ramos, Ferland Mendy; Federico Valverde, Casemiro, Toni Kroos; Rodrygo, Karim Benzema, Vinicius Junior.
Real Madrid substitutes: Luka Jovic, Eder Militao, Luka Modric, Brahim Diaz, Alvaro Odriozola, Isco, Alphonse Areola.
Espanyol XI (3-1-4-2): Diego Lopez; David Lopez, Bernardo Espinosa, Fernando Calero; Marc Roca; Victor Gomez, Sergi Darder, Esteban Granero, Didac Vila; Wu Lei, Jonathan Calleri.
Espanyol substitutes: Pol Lozano, Adria Pedrosa, Lluis Lopez, Andres Prieto, Oscar Melendo, Pipa, Victor Campuzano.
Real Madrid will be hoping for a convincing home win over 19th-placed Espanyol in order to boost their goal difference and take them above Barcelona at the top of the league table. The visitors are five points adrift of safety and are in desperate need of points, but face a daunting test against Los Blancos.
Despite leading, Zidane will certainly be expecting to see more from his team. They have not looked fluid and have barely got out of first gear. The Frenchman will expect a vastly improved performance in the second half.
Madrid face Club Brugge in the Champions League next, before a trip to Valencia in the league, while Espanyol have a Europa League game against CSKA Moscow at home prior to a visit from Real Betis.
Thank you for joining our coverage, we hope you enjoyed the game. Until next time, goodbye!
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