Leganes vs Real Madrid. Spanish Copa del Rey Quarter Final.
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Thursday 18 January 2018 22:57, UK
Marco Asensio scored a late goal to give a much-changed Real Madrid a 1-0 first leg Copa del Rey quarter-final victory at Leganes on Thursday.
The 21-year-old converted a cross from full-back Theo Hernandez from the centre of the box in the 89th minute.
That ended a run of three matches without victory for Zinedine Zidane's side, even though Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema were left out.
Leganes were organised in defence and willing to launch counter-attacks, with the European champions struggling to cause them problems.
But Asensio's late intervention gave Real a much-needed boost following last weekend's 1-0 defeat at home to Villarreal that left them 18 points behind arch rivals Barcelona in La Liga.
And unlike Barca, who lost 1-0 to their city rivals Espanyol on Wednesday, and Atletico Madrid, beaten 2-1 at home by Sevilla, Real are at least in charge of their quarter-final tie in the competition that looks likely to offer them their best chance of domestic silverware this season.
The second legs will be played next week.
