On January 21, Beijing time, in the 1/8 final of the Copa del Rey, Real Madrid narrowly defeated Elche 2-1 in extra time to enter the quarterfinals. The hero of the victory was undoubtedly Hazard, who stepped forward and scored the first goal of the season!
As we all know, the 31-year-old Hazard has not had a good time at Real Madrid, making 13 appearances in La Liga this season, only 6 starts, contributing 1 goal and 1 assist. Real Madrid won the Western Super Cup, he did not appear in the semi-finals or the final, and in the group photo of the victory ceremony, it was found that only the Belgians did not have a smile on their faces.
In this game, although Benzema and Asensio were not there, Hazard did not start until the 90th minute when he came on as a substitute for Rodrigo. Real Madrid and Elche exchanged white papers and entered extra time, which also gave him 30 minutes of performance time.
In the 102nd minute, Marcelo left the field red, and Real Madrid fought one less! In the 103rd minute, Elche broke the deadlock by Berdu to make it 1-0! In desperation, Isco took the lead, equalized in the 108th minute, and then it was the turn of the king.
In the 115th minute, Alaba's direct pass from the left, Hazard shook off the opposing goalkeeper, and his left foot pushed into the net, 2-1! Real Madrid countered. The king jumped high and threw his fists in celebration, and his teammates ran to hug him, and it was with this goal that Ancelotti's team won in reverse!
The data shows that this is Hazard's debut goal in all competitions this season, and the last time he scored for Real Madrid was against Sevilla on May 10 last year, 255 days ago! His last 2 appearances, both in the Copa del Rey, have delivered 1 goal and 1 assist, and participated in 2 goals, which is equal to the sum of the previous 17 games (2 assists)!
So far, Hazard has scored 199 goals in his entire career, just one goal away from the 200-goal milestone, including 110 goals in Chelsea, 50 goals in Lille, 33 goals for the Belgian national team and only 6 goals for Real Madrid.
After the match, Ancelotti praised: "Hazard and Isco won the game, it makes a lot of sense. Maybe sometimes they're worth playing more games. The past is the past, we have to look forward, and I know I can rely on them. "Hopefully, this goal will allow the king of the ball to completely regain his form and win a place in La Liga."
(This article was first published in the self-media number Nianzhou, reprinted with permission)