Real Madrid beat Villarreal 3-2 in the Copa del Rey last 16 on Thursday thanks to an outstanding second-half performance by substitute Dani Ceballos.
Dani Ceballos who came in as a substitute delivered an assist for Real Madrid’s first goal. The 26-year-old midfielder created the opening for the second and third goal and ultimate winner of the match after the club was close to been eliminated from the Spanish Cup tournament, trailing 2-0 at halftime.
“I was annoyed, very annoyed,” Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti said. “They went ahead early, we took risks, they play the ball out well from the back, we weren’t decisive in the duels.
“I told the team to wake up. They woke up well. It’s the first half and the second, the first wasn’t good, we can’t play like that. But the reaction was spectacular, you never give up with this badge. But we can’t get close to the bottom before reacting, that isn’t good.”
Villarreal had dominated the first half of the match and extended their lead in the 41st minute when Gerard Moreno found Samuel Chukwueze in between two defenders and delivered a brilliant pass to the Nigerian winger who powered a well-aimed shot into the top left corner of the goal post.
Ceballos came off the bench in the 56th minute to play a pivotal role in all of Real Madrid’s goals.
One minute after coming on, he delivered a superb through ball to Vinicius Jr who scored from point-blank range, and twelve minutes later he crossed to Karim Benzema whose overshadowing header was blocked by Filip Jorgensen but allowed Eder Militao to score from the rebound.
86 minutes into the match, Ceballos gave a perfect low shot from just inside the box to give Real Madrid the final win.
Speaking with TVE, Ceballos said, “”I think that when you have the chance to wear this jersey even for one minute, you have to seize the opportunity.”
“I’m happy to been able to inject energy and desire to the team and luckily we have turned the game around.”
“Sure, we want to dominate every games we play but in the last few weeks we have not been able to. We have played many games in a row, many players have came back from the World Cup and now we have to move on and look forward.”
Real Madrid’s victory over Villarreal seemed to be a comeback after their 2-1 LaLiga defeat by Villarreal two weeks ago and a 3-1 loss to Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup final last Sunday.
