First goal of Real Madrid’s Álvaro Arbeloa era comes from an unlikely source
Just two days after being appointed head coach, Arbeloa takes his team to second division Albacete in the Copa del Rey.
Real Madrid players had little time to recover from Sunday’s Super Cup loss to Barcelona, returning from Saudi Arabia to take on Albacete on Wednesday.
Madrid took to the field under newly-appointed head coach Álvaro Arbeloa, who took charge after Xabi Alonso‘s shock departure on Monday. Los Blancos were the overwhelming favorites against second division Albacete but it was the hosts who took the lead.
Shortly before halftime young midfielder Javi Villar opened the scoring for Albacete, notching only his second senior goal. Villar had previously spent time with Real Madrid Castilla and came back to haunt his former club.
Who was the first Real Madrid scorer?
Unsurprisingly, it did not take long for Madrid to draw level. On the verge of halftime Franco Mastantuono made the score 1-1, becoming the first Real Madrid scorer of the Alvaro Arbeloa era.
Mastantuono, like Villar, was an unlikely candidate for goalscorer. He arrived from Argentina last summer with a reputation as one of the world’s most promising young attackers. However he has taken some time to adapt to life in Spain, managing only one goal in his first 17 games for Madrid.
With the scores level it looked like Madrid would take control of the game but they failed to exert any real pressure on the hosts. With ten minutes remaining Jefté Betancor fired Albacete back ahead, before Madrid’s Gonzalo Garcia leveled again in stoppage time.
Incredibly, Albacete still had more to give and a second goal from Betancor gave the second division team a famous win, condemning Arbeloa to a nightmare start as Real Madrid head coach.
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