Real Madrid passes Cadiz late, Williams Akbar decided the Basque derby

Real Madrid postponed the upcoming Barcelona club title in the Spanish League for a week. De Koninklijke won hard: 2-0 over Cádiz, which Real had twice taken points last year.

Real Madrid immediately put pressure on Cadiz, but the home team got the first chance: captain Alfonso Espino hit the post with a diagonal shot.

Cadiz were good defensively and had an extra trump card in goalkeeper David Gil: the 29-year-old Madrilen, who trained at Atlético Madrid, had made just four appearances at the highest level to his name until this season.

Due to the suspension of first choice Konan Ledesma, Gil was allowed to go under the crossbar for the fourth time in a row against Real and he did so convincingly. Before the break, he saved dangerous shots from Marco Asensio and Karim Benzema and several attempts from the excellent Rodrygo.

And if Jill got beat up, the pub came to his aid. Benzema, for example, hit the bottom of the crossbar hard, after which the ball bounced back into the field across the goal line.

After the break, Gil kept Cadiz upright with great chances for Asensio, Rodrygo and Valverde. When Benzema hit the post, Real Madrid began to despair. Nacho broke the spell with just over fifteen minutes left with a shot from distance. Four minutes later, Asensio also took advantage of the space created in the final stretch.

The Basque derby between Athletic Club (seventh in LaLiga) and Real Sociedad (fourth) ended with the home team winning 2-0. The big man was again Inaki Williams, who scored twice.

In Bilbao, Athletic were clearly the best, but lacked initial luck. For example, Spain international Neco Williams was already close to scoring a goal twice before his older brother Inaki (Ghana international) decided the game.

He was lucky in his first game, because the ball seemed to touch his elbow for a moment. In the second he left no room for doubt: Williams fired the ball like a missile into the roof of the goal.

Real Sociedad remain an important fourth in La Liga, but see Real Betis – who won 3-1 at Espanyol – come close. The difference between the two is only three points.