Jude Bellingham finally ended his goal drought by opening his account for the season with a perfect lob to put Real Madrid in control against Osasuna.
WHAT HAPPENED?
With Real Madrid leading Osasuna 1-0, substitute defender Marco Asencio - who replaced the injured Eder Militao - picked the ball up deep and picked out a wonderful lofted pass over the top for Bellingham to run onto. The ball bounced once and, without taking a touch, the Englishman lobbed it over Osasuna goalkeeper Sergio Herrera to finally break his duck for the 2024-25 season.
WATCH THE CLIP
Relief for Jude Bellingham! 🏴
— Premier Sports (@PremSportsTV) November 9, 2024
The Englishman lobs the goalkeeper and scores his first goal of the season 👏 pic.twitter.com/HRO9mkZFel
¡JUDE BELLINGHAM! ¡2-0!
— ESPN Deportes (@ESPNDeportes) November 9, 2024
El debutante Asencio con una asistencia desde el fondo para que Jude amplíe la ventaja 🤯 pic.twitter.com/TKlFqYKc3q
THE BIGGER PICTURE
Despite displaying his typical composure and quality on the ball throughout this season, Bellingham had seen Real Madrid's opening 12 games come and go without bagging a goal, although he had set up three prior to the Osasuna clash.
After scoring 23 goals in his debut campaign with the Spanish giants, his output was always likely to dip somewhat - thanks to the summer transfer window purchase of Kylian Mbappe from Paris Saint-Germain.
Bellingham has been forced into his more natural deeper playmaking position, but would have still had goals - or a lack of them - on his mind the longer he went on without one.
WHAT NEXT FOR BELLINGHAM AND REAL MADRID?
Madrid would eventually cruise into a 4-0 lead courtesy of a Vinicius Jr hat-trick and they will temporarily reduce Barcelona's lead at the top of La Liga to six points, although the Catalans have an extra day to prepare for their game against Real Sociedad.
Real's next game sees them take on Leganes away from home on the November 24, following the end of the international break. Bar injury in the Osasuna game, or on international duty, Bellingham will play a big part in that fixture.