Amid a low-wattage LaLiga match, Marco Asensio struck to help Real Madrid seal victory over Getafe at Santiago Bernabeu.
Marco Asensio’s 20-yard finish helped Real Madrid to a low-key 1-0 victory over relegation-threatened Getafe in LaLiga on Saturday.
The Spain international fired home a superb strike with 20 minutes left at the Santiago Bernabeu to keep Los Blancos in the mix for a top-two finish.
With Barcelona poised to win the league title, Carlo Ancelotti’s priorities have long since shifted to successfully defending their Champions League crown.
But he will still be keen to ensure they maintain their unbeatable momentum after seeing off Jose Bordalas’s struggling visitors.
With a heavily rotated side fielded in deference to Wednesday’s upcoming European crunch clash with Manchester City, Madrid overshadowed the lackluster first half between the two.
Asensio squandered an opportunity after tapping a soft finish straight at goalkeeper David Soria from Aurelien Tchouameni’s clever delivery, while Dani Ceballos was wildly off target just after the half-hour mark.
Getafe themselves struggled to force their hosts into their own opener and were mostly limited to a flurry of half chances for Juan Iglesias to deal with in the opening quarter of an hour.
This overall lack of quality saw Ancelotti introduce a number of first-team regulars after the break, joined by Vinicius Junior and Luka Modric.
But it was Asensio who eventually won it after striking from distance, a clever deflection helping his effort slide under Soria and onto the right post.
Vinicius saw a late run flagged for offside, but Madrid did not bother in the closing stages and secured the three points with little fuss.
