Hazard to the rescue! Carlo Ancelotti’s 10-man Real Madrid stage a thrilling extra-time fightback at Elche with goals from Isco and the former Chelsea star seeing Los Blancos into the quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey
- Real Madrid entered Copa del Rey clash fresh off their Spanish Super Cup win
- Los Blancos were frustrated and the lack of Karim Benzema up front hurt them
- Elche had three clear chances in the first half but failed to take any of them
- Game went to extra time and Real were dealt a blow with Marcelo’s red card
- Elche then scored but Isco and Eden Hazard struck back to earn the win
Ten-man Real Madrid overcame a hostile atmosphere and fought back from a goal down in extra-time to beat Elche 2-1 on Thursday and reach the Copa del Rey quarter-finals.
Following a scoreless 90 minutes, Elche took the lead with a free kick earned with Real down to 10 men after Marcelo was sent off for a foul on Tete Morente.
Experienced defender Gonzalo Verdu struck the free kick into the wall but his second effort deflected off Dani Ceballos and wrong-footed goalkeeper Andriy Lunin before ending up in the back of the net.
Isco (left) brought Real Madrid back on level terms after they fell behind in extra time
Eden Hazard showed a rare glimpse of his class in a Real shirt with the winning goal
A red card shown to Marcelo put the favourites under huge pressure away from home
Real grabbed the equaliser when Isco deflected a Ceballos shot inside the box.
Substitute Eden Hazard scored the winner on a counter-attack after receiving a through ball from David Alaba, rounding the goalkeeper and finishing into an empty net.
Real’s win backed up their recent success in winning the Spanish Super Cup and all silverware is still possible for Ancelotti’s men.
Ancelotti hit out at the fixture schedule after the game. Real had to travel to Saudi Arabia to play in the Spanish Super Cup, which they won by beating Athletic Bilbao on Sunday.
‘What do you want me to say? There is a calendar which is absolute nonsense,’ Ancelotti told reporters.
Eden Hazard condemned the hosts to defeat late on and stopped it going to penalties
‘It is inevitable that it has to change, I hope those who do it wake up and make a calendar that is fairer.’
It was the second Real Madrid game that went to extra-time in eight days after they beat arch-rivals Barcelona 3-2 in the Super Cup semi-finals.
Ancelotti rested several first-team regulars against Elche.
‘It’s a big accomplishment winning the way we did at Elche. I’m very happy,’ the Italian said. ‘I think it was the game that gave me the most joy to win this season because the team showed a lot of character, a lot of strength.
Elche thought they were on course for a famous win after Gonzalo Verdu broke the deadlock
‘You can talk about the difficulties, but you have to highlight the character of this team.’
Ancelotti praised Isco and Eden Hazard who scored the two Real goals after coming off the substitutes’ bench in extra-time.
‘I’m very happy for them. They haven’t had many minutes. Today we needed them, we knew it could be a long game. And they won the game for us,’ Ancelotti said.
‘I know I can count on them. I have a group of players that has everything. They never give up, have an extraordinary character.
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