Spanish La Liga
GranadaGranada1Real MadridReal Madrid2

Granada CF 1-2 Real Madrid

Luka Modric scores for Real Madrid
Luka Modric scored his first La Liga goal since September 2014

Luka Modric scored a stunning late goal to give Real Madrid a 2-1 win at struggling Granada and keep their fading La Liga title hopes alive.

Karim Benzema turned in Dani Carvajal's low cross to open the scoring for Real.

They were in danger of slipping six points behind leaders Barcelona, who won 2-0 at Levante earlier, as Yousseff El-Arabi equalised for Granada.

But Modric hammered the ball into the top corner in the 84th minute to give boss Zinedine Zidane a first away win.

Relive all the action here.

The opener was Benzema's 23rd goal of the season and eighth in his last six games as Real forward Cristiano Ronaldo again failed to score away from home.

Ronaldo's last goal away from the Bernabeu came at the end of November and the top scorer missed an early chance as he fired just wide of the far post.

Yousseff El-Arabi scores for Granada
Youssef El-Arabi's sixth league goal of the season drew him level with Enrique Porta as Granada's highest scorer in La Liga history

Granada had lost three of their last four league games and last season conceded 13 goals in two league defeats by Real.

But they carried a real threat all evening and after goalkeeper Andres Fernandez had superbly saved from Benzema, deservedly levelled through substitute El-Arabi with an hour gone.

The Morocco international ran onto a pass from former Blackburn forward Ruben Rochina to slot home with virtually his first touch to become the joint top scorer in Granada's La Liga history with 34 goals.

But ex-Tottenham midfielder Modric capped a superb display with his first league goal of the season to keep Real a point behind city rivals Atletico Madrid and four adrift of leaders Barca.

Elsewhere in La Liga, Sevilla held out with 10 men after having on-loan Tottenham defender Federico Fazio sent off to secure a 1-1 draw at top-six rivals Celta Vigo and extend their unbeaten run to 10 games.

Fazio received two bookings in the first 25 minutes of his first game since rejoining Seville, who went ahead through Daniel Carrico's 43rd-minute goal.

Claudio Beauvue levelled for Celta Vigo 19 minutes into the second half, and the two teams will meet again in the second leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final next Thursday evening with Sevilla leading 4-0 from the first leg.

Line-ups

Granada

Formation 4-2-3-1

  • 13Fernández
  • 18Almeida Costa LopesBooked at 19mins
  • 2Rodríguez Lombán
  • 24Moreira da Costa
  • 22Foulquier
  • 20Pérez del MármolBooked at 32mins
  • 4Rico CastroSubstituted forKrhinat 77'minutes
  • 11Success
  • 23Rochina Naixes
  • 27PeñarandaSubstituted forDoucouréat 81'minutes
  • 15Barral TorresSubstituted forEl-Arabiat 58'minutesBooked at 61mins

Substitutes

  • 3Biraghi
  • 6Babin
  • 9El-Arabi
  • 16Doucouré
  • 19Cuenca López
  • 21Krhin
  • 25Fernández Collado

Real Madrid

Formation 4-3-3

  • 1Navas
  • 15CarvajalBooked at 83minsSubstituted forNachoat 86'minutes
  • 2Varane
  • 4RamosBooked at 62mins
  • 12Marcelo
  • 19Modric
  • 8Kroos
  • 22IscoSubstituted forKovacicat 78'minutes
  • 10RodríguezSubstituted forRodríguez Ruizat 61'minutes
  • 9Benzema
  • 7Cristiano Ronaldo

Substitutes

  • 6Nacho
  • 13Casilla
  • 14Casemiro
  • 16Kovacic
  • 17Arbeloa
  • 18Vázquez
  • 20Rodríguez Ruiz
Referee:
Jesús Gil Manzano
Attendance:
17,060

Match Stats

Home TeamGranadaAway TeamReal Madrid
Possession
Home36%
Away64%
Shots
Home14
Away14
Shots on Target
Home2
Away4
Corners
Home3
Away6
Fouls
Home20
Away8

Live Text

  1. Post update

    Match ends, Granada CF 1, Real Madrid 2.

  2. Full Time

    Second Half ends, Granada CF 1, Real Madrid 2.

  3. Post update

    Marcelo (Real Madrid) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  4. Post update

    Foul by Success (Granada CF).

  5. Post update

    Corner, Real Madrid. Conceded by Rubén Rochina.

  6. Post update

    Foul by Karim Benzema (Real Madrid).

  7. Post update

    Miguel Lopes (Granada CF) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  8. Post update

    Foul by Luka Modric (Real Madrid).

  9. Post update

    Rubén Rochina (Granada CF) wins a free kick on the left wing.

  10. Substitution

    Substitution, Real Madrid. Nacho replaces Daniel Carvajal because of an injury.

  11. Goal!

    Goal! Granada CF 1, Real Madrid 2. Luka Modric (Real Madrid) right footed shot from outside the box to the top left corner. Assisted by Mateo Kovacic.

  12. Booking

    Daniel Carvajal (Real Madrid) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

  13. Post update

    Foul by Daniel Carvajal (Real Madrid).

  14. Post update

    Rubén Rochina (Granada CF) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  15. Post update

    Attempt blocked. Success (Granada CF) left footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked.

  16. Substitution

    Substitution, Granada CF. Abdoulaye Doucouré replaces Adalberto Peñaranda.

  17. Substitution

    Substitution, Real Madrid. Mateo Kovacic replaces Isco.

  18. Post update

    Attempt missed. Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) header from the centre of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Toni Kroos with a cross following a corner.

  19. Post update

    Corner, Real Madrid. Conceded by Ricardo Costa.

  20. Post update

    Attempt blocked. Jesé (Real Madrid) right footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Luka Modric.