Real Madrid news in brief: Benzema, Casemiro...
AS English brings you a selection of bitesize Real Madrid news in the wake of the LaLiga champions' win over Las Palmas on Sunday night.
Real Madrid's first headed goal this season
Casemiro's opener for Real Madrid in Sunday's 3-0 LaLiga win over Las Palmas was the team's first headed goal in all competitions this season. Last term, Real scored 40 headers, a haul equating to 23% of their overall tally of 173 goals. So far in 2017/18, they account for just 3% of Los Blancos' 39 strikes.
Nacho and Casemiro escape costly bookings
Nacho Fernández and Casemiro went into the visit of Las Palmas just one yellow card away from incurring a one-match ban - one that would have ruled them out of the derbi madrileño against city rivals Atlético Madrid a week on Saturday. However, they both avoided going into referee José Sánchez's notebook, with Real boss Zinedine Zidane protecting Casemiro from a possible caution by substituting him midway through the second half.
Whistles for striker Benzema
The Santiago Bernabéu crowd whistled misfiring centre-forward Karim Benzema on several occasions on Sunday night. The Frenchman first drew the wrath of the home supporters in the fourth minute, after missing a golden opportunity to score when through on Las Palmas goalkeeper Raúl Lizoain. He has now gone 214 days without finding the net at home in the Spanish top flight.
Vallejo finishes LaLiga debut with cramp
Jesús Vallejo was handed his league debut for Real Madrid, in what was also his first appearance at the Bernabéu. After going on to complete a full match for the first time this season, the former Real Zaragoza central defender left the field with cramp. Let's hope it's not the type that Gareth Bale had.