Tuesday night’s late-night encounter in San Francisco between Real Madrid and Club América was incredibly entertaining and ultimately resulted in a 2-2 draw.
In the preseason friendly against the Liga MX team, Los Blancos came out on top thanks in part to goals from Karim Benzema and Eden Hazard.
Los Blancos entered the contest off the back of a 1-0 loss to Barcelona on Saturday, while America had taken on Chelsea and Manchester City in friendlies this summer, suffering 2-1 defeats in both fixtures.
Real Madrid appeared slightly more impressive in the second part of both preseason games. Toni Kroos and Luka Modric’s introductions against Barcelona helped the squad stay composed and advance the ball, while against Club America, the second-half vitality and youthful spark of the young midfielders turned the game’s momentum in Madrid’s favour.
Pre-season rust was still present, which is understandable. A weakness in the first half was the touches and defensive risks made by Casemiro and Lucas Vazquez. Henry Martin went goal-side of Rudiger to finish a chance in Real Madrid’s favour on Club America’s first goal.
The La Liga and Champions League winners were expected to dominate the proceedings, although, in almost anti-climax fashion, they were 0-1 down by the fifth minute. Martin was lucky perhaps that his teammate’s shot cum pass ended up in his feet, but he showed excellent composure to drill the ball into the back of the net.
Real Madrid and Club América: An evening of Entertaining football treat
Real Madrid’s 2022 preseason campaign comes to an end with a draw against Club America in front of an enthusiastic crowd at Oracle Park in San Francisco. The atmosphere created by both sets of fans gave the game a nice boost, especially as the second half went on and the sun set.
Benzema then dragged his side back into the contest, he dropped deep to exchange a few passes with his teammates, before having a give-and-go with Asensio and unleashing a curling effort which beat the opposition goalie.
The first half ended 1-1, but ten minutes into the second half, Madrid were given a penalty after a rash challenge on Lucas Vazquez. Up stepped Eden Hazard to finish with aplomb and give his side the lead.
Los Blancos continued to dominate but 12 minutes before the end of regulation time, Club America were also awarded a penalty. Fidalgo, the former Real Madrid player took the responsibility and buried home the resulting kick to make matters even again.
And that’s how it finished, 2-2, with Real Madrid and America sharing the spoils. Next up, the Spanish club will take on Juventus, while the Mexican outfit will resume their league campaign.
