La Liga: Asensio’s double inspires Real Madrid past Betis in eight-goal thriller

Marco Asensio scored twice as Real Madrid survived a scare from Real Betis in an eight-goal thriller at the Estadio Villamarin. Buoyed by their impressive win in the Champions League, Real came into this game in confident mood and took an early lead via Asensio in the 11th minute.

But two goals in the space of four minutes, first from Aissa Mandi, who canceled Asensio’s opener,  and a Nacho Fernandez owngoal, turned the game in favour of the home side, who deservedly went into the break with a 2-1 lead.

After the break, Sergio Ramos’s brilliant header saw Los Blancos level, setting the tone for a remarkable second half, as the flood gates of goals were opened.

Just before the hour mark, the visitors were back in front, as Asensio completed his brace, before Cristiano Ronaldo’s strike, six minutes later appeared to have wrapped up the game at 4-2 for Zinedine Zidane’s side.

Asensio’s beautifully taken goal was an historic one, as it was Real Madrid’s 6000th goal in La Liga.

Betis wouldn’t go down without fight though, as some inspired substitution saw them pull another goal back through Sergio Leon, who made it 4-3 on the night.

Another substitute, Karim Benzma, would ensure the champions had the best laugh as he came off the bench to score the fifth and final goal of the game, in added time to wrap of an exciting La Liga game.

The win lifts Real to within a point of third placed Valencia, while Real Betis remain ninth on the league table.

Elsewhere in the league, goals from Gameiro and Diego Costa helped Atletico Madrid to a 2-0 win over Athletic Bilbao, while Real Sociedad defeated Levante 3-0.

Full Results
Real Sociedad 3-0 Levante
Atletico Madrid 2-0 Athletic Club
Espanyol 1-1 Villarreal
Real Betis 3-5 Real Madrid