Football
Courtois blunder as Eibar thrash Real Madrid
Thibaut Courtois’ error cost Real Madrid as they were thrashed by Eibar in Santiago Solari’s first game since he was appointed permanent coach
Santiago Solari’s winning start as Real Madrid coach ended with a dismal defeat as Eibar won 3-0 to claim a first La Liga victory over their opponents.
The Argentine was given the job on a permanent basis after winning all four games since replacing Julen Lopetgui.
But Real fell behind to Gonzalo Escalante’s early opener for the hosts.
Sergi Enrich then doubled the lead shortly after half-time and Kike struck five minutes later to put Eibar two points behind sixth-placed Real.
Real looked a shadow of the side that earned Solari the best start of any manager in the club’s history and they did not heed an early warning by Kike, who hit a 25-yard volley against a post in the third minute.
Although Gareth Bale had a goal rightly disallowed for offside and Karim Benzema’s close-range effort was cleared off the line by Cote, the hosts remained on top.
Kike headed wide following a short corner before Eibar scored on the break, with Escalante bundling the ball in as keeper Thibaut Courtois tried to gather the rebound after stopping Kike’s shot.
The goal was initially ruled out for offside in the build-up but after a long wait the Basque outfit – in just their fifth season in the Spanish top flight – could celebrate as VAR rightly ruled that Marc Cucurella was onside.
Bale and Luka Modric tested home goalkeeper Asier Riesgo from just outside the box but Eibar’s defence was relatively untroubled – even after they went 3-0 up.
They took a deserved 2-0 lead as young Real right-back Alvaro Odriozola was caught in possession just outside his own box by Cucurella, who squared for Enrich to fire in off the far post.
Cucurella, on loan from Barcelona, was again the provider five minutes later, whipping in a low cross from the left that Kike reacted to quicker than Raphael Varane to tap home from six yards after Enrich had been unable to direct the ball goalwards at the near post.
It could have got worse for Real too as Fabian Orellana nutmegged Dani Ceballos before seeing his shot turned wide by Courtois, the only Real player to emerge with any credit having also denied Brazilian substitute Charles late on.
