Arda Guler strikes to keep Real Madrid alive in the La Liga race | OneFootball

The La Liga 2024-25 race seems to be going down the wire, with Real Madrid and FC Barcelona still fighting for the top spot at this late phase of the season.

Over the last weekend, the Merengues kept up their title hopes as they got a 1-0 win over Athletic Club. The lone goal in this game came right at the right, as the match was already in injury time when Federico Valverde sent in a thunderous shot into the back of the net to get his side the full three points.

Thus, in Kylian Mbappe’s absence, the Uruguayan had turned out to be the difference-maker for Los Blancos.

The Frenchman was once again absent as Real Madrid took on Getafe in their next league match, which took place last night. The Merengues once again won with a 0-1 scoreline, but this time, it was the Turkish youngster Arda Guler who proved to be decisive for his side.

Guler played as an interior midfielder in this match and had quite a good outing. The highlight of his night was undoubtedly the goal he scored.

The Turk got the ball after it had scrambled and was poorly cleared out of the Getafe box. He then beat a defender with a deft move, before taking a shot from quite some way out and beating several defenders, and ended up in the back of the net after a slight touch from the goalkeeper.

This remained the only goal by the time the referee whistled for full time, even though the two teams generated a lot of chances.

But in addition to scoring the decisive goal, the Turk also impressed in other aspects of the game. For instance, Sofascore statistics show that in the 99 minutes he remained on the pitch, he got on the ball 99 times. He attempted 78 passes, completing 68 of them with an 87% success rate. He also put in 3 key passes, but none of his 5 crosses were accurate, and only 1 of his 5 long balls found its target.

Guler also won 5 of the 7 ground duels he was engaged in and completed 2 of the 3 dribbles he attempted in this match. He also contributed defensively when his team needed him, and made 1 interception and 2 tackles in this game.

Thus, it was quite an impressive performance from the Turkish gem, who took full advantage of this opportunity to start a league game. He showed that he can hold his own as a midfielder, even though there are some areas where he would need to make improvements going forward.