Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport

Real Madrid win first game without Julen Lopetegui as Santiago Solari oversees Copa del Rey cruise vs Melilla

Santiago Solari's reign as Real Madrid's caretaker coach began with a 4-0 Copa del Rey win at Melilla.

Madrid dispensed of former Spain manager Julen Lopetegui after a humiliating El Clasico defeat at the weekend, with Solari taking temporary charge.

Solari, who played for the club between 2000-2005, watched on as Karim Benzema, Marco Asensio, Alvaro Odriozola and Cristo goals downed the Segunda B outfit, with the second leg at the Bernabeu still to come.

This was always going to be a nice way for Solari to ease into things as he begins a caretaker spell which is not expected to last much longer than two weeks as Madrid plot their next move.

(EPA)

Unsurprisingly they were quick to dominate their third-tier hosts and came close to opening the scoring in the 23rd minute as Lucas Vazquez saw a long-range effort tipped just over the crossbar by home goalkeeper Dani Barrio.

There was nothing Barrio could do five minutes later, though, as the visitors took the lead with a fine counter attack.

Vasquez was involved as he fed Odriozola who teed up Benzema to tuck home from close range.

It was 2-0 in first-half injury time as Asensio fired home from 12 yards after being found by Junio Vinicius.

(AFP/Getty Images)

Vinicius thundered an effort into the crossbar after the restart as Madrid continued to dominate, but they had to wait until the 79th minute to make it 3-0.

This one was not pretty as Sergio Reguilon's effort was parried by Barrios and, after Vinicius had an effort blocked, Odriozola rammed home from a yard out.

Cristo's goal came deep into injury time as Madrid made the win even more emphatic.

Madrid played a corner short, worked it down the right and Odriozola flighted in an inviting cross which the substitute had no problem heading home.

The second leg is not until the first week of December, but much bigger tests await Solari, beginning with a home league game with Valladolid on Saturday, which precedes a run of four away games.

Additional reporting by the Press Association.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.