In opening the scoring for Real Madrid against Malaga on Saturday, Karim Benzema ended a scoring drought that had stretched seven home La Liga fixtures – an unwanted record for the France international.
The former Lyon striker has been heavily criticised for his performances this season, which has started more slowly than any of his eight previous campaigns since he arrived from the Ligue 1 giants in 2009.
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Indeed, so sluggish had his form in front of goal been this term, he had not netted a single strike at the Bernabeu in league play until he headed the opener of the fixture against Malaga.
His previous home league goal in La Liga had been scored against Alaves in a 3-0 win at the beginning of April.
Since then, he has netted in the Spanish Supercopa against Barcelona at home, but otherwise, all of his subsequent six strikes have been on the road.
Benzema is not the only Real Madrid attacker to come under fire for his poor scoring rate this term; Cristiano Ronaldo had scored only once in eight La Liga outings prior to Saturday’s clash.