Ramos becomes the hero at the last minute, Real advances in La Liga

Centre-back Sergio Ramos scored a late winner for the second week in a row as Real beat Deportivo 3-2.

Goals: Morata 50', Mariano 84', Ramos 90'+2 - Joselu 63', 65'

Much like what happened in El Clasico a week ago, Ramos jumped high to head home a goal against Deportivo from a high ball. The only difference was that this time the Real captain scored three points instead of one like his goal at the Nou Camp.

Before Ramos' decisive header, Real almost paid the price for coach Zidane's risky decisions. Taking advantage of the home team not using their attacking trio of Ronaldo, Benzema and Bale, Deportivo took a 2-1 lead until the 84th minute. If it weren't for two brilliant headers from Mariano and Ramos, the La Liga leaders could have suffered defeat right at their home stadium, the Bernabeu.

Ramos is very lucky with decisive goals. Photo: Reuters

Real Madrid announced that they would not be using Ronaldo and Benzema (Bale was injured) nearly a day before the match. This could also have been the motivation for Deportivo to be more aggressive. Throughout the match, the visitors were ready to play tit for tat with Real. In the middle of the second half, Deportivo even scored two goals within three minutes to take a 2-1 lead. Both goals came from decisive finishes by striker Joselu.

While the BBC trio were not available, coach Zidane also had some success with the use of young players. Striker Morata started and scored the opening goal with a beautiful curling shot, while Mariano helped Real level the score at 2-2. Players like James, Isco and Lucas Vazquez also had a good match.

While the young forwards were quite effective, Real's defence showed many problems. Due to a lack of pressure sharing, this line had to work hard and could not stop Joselu from scoring twice. In the situation where the visitors equalized 1-1, midfielder Casemiro lost the ball in an unfortunate way before Joselu fired a decisive shot into the top corner of Real's goal. Two minutes later, both Pepe and Ramos failed to stop a cross from the right wing, leading to a goal that increased the score to 2-1.

Real almost paid the price for letting Ronaldo and Benzema rest.

When facing the risk of losing their first match after 34 unbeaten matches, Real really showed their strength. Of which, the biggest advantage must be their ability to fight in the air. The two goals to equalize 2-2 and increase the score to 3-2 both came from high balls that were passed as if placed into the penalty area. At that time, the task of Mariano and Ramos was just to lightly touch the ball to change direction and fly into the goal.

After the win over Deportivo, Real continued to lead La Liga with a gap of six points over second-placed Barca. This is also good preparation for the FIFA Club World Cup, the tournament that Zidane and his team will participate in in Japan next week.

Real's joy of victory after the decisive goal.

According to VNE