Real Madrid keep climbing LaLiga - Leganes 1-3 Real Madrid Lucas, Casemiro and Ramos score in win at Leganes

Real Madrid avenged their Copa del Rey elimination to Leganes by claiming a comeback 3-1 win over their crosstown rivals on Wednesday night at the Estadio Municipal de Butarque in Leganes.

Bustinza struck early to hand Leganes a lead, but Real would respond later in the first-half through Lucas Vazquez and Casemiro and then a late Sergio Ramos penalty conversion to collect the three points.

Arguably the most positive aspect of the contest for Real manager Zinedine Zidane was the performance of forward Karim Benzema, who thrived playing alongside the likes of Isco, Marco Asensio and Lucas Vazquez and was instrumental in both Real goals.

Zidane's starting XI had a much different look to it, starting with the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo due to injury. Gareth Bale was also excluded, meaning Asensio and Benzema each got the start up top. The recent injuries sustained by Luka Modric and Marcelo also promoted more shuffling, with Mateo Kovacic and Theo coming in for the pair, while starting goalkeeper Keylor Navas was rested and replaced by back-up Kiko Casilla.

After toppling Real in the Copa, Leganes were keen to do it again in LaLiga and things looked good early on when Bustinza's assertiveness resulted in an early 1-0 lead for the hosts.

An Eraso corner kick was flicked on and reached Bustinza, whose initial header was blocked by Casilla. Right in front of goal the ball fell to Theo, who looked to clear, but Bustinza never gave up on the play and his dive to block Theo's clearance ended with the ball deflecting off his head and into the Real net.

Real would respond in kind and a poor clearance from Siovas paved the way for Lucas Vazquez's equaliser. Benzema played to Kovacic, who fed Casemiro and the Brazilian - whether intentionally or not - let the ball roll to Lucas Vazquez and the shot from the Galicia beat Cuellar to even the score 1-1.

There was a nice fluidity to Real's play with Asensio, Lucas Vazquez and Benzema all working well together, and the latter two were part of Casemiro's go-ahead goal just shy of the hour mark.

It was a beautifully worked goal from Los Blancos, starting with Benzema playing a quick one-two with Casemiro before finding Lucas Vazquez, who one-timed a ball back to Casemiro and it was a strong finish into net for the 2-1 lead.

Despite the positive performance from Real, Leganes were still just a goal back at the start of the second-half and they kept Casilla and the Real defence on their toes with some pressure in the second stanza.

Leganes' best chance at a second came shortly after the hour mark when El-Zgar was played down the right by Tito and crossed for Beauvue, whose shot looked goal-bound only for Casilla to make a tremendous save.

Zidane looked to take back control of the contest and nail down the three points by swapping off Benzema and bringing on Bale for the final quarter-hour. The Welshman gave the Real attack a jolt and Cuellar had to be alert to stop a stinging shot from Isco.

With Leganes leaving so much space open in the back in hopes of an equaliser, Real were poised to get a third and it would come minutes before full-time when a one-two combination between Kovacic and Lucas Vazquez ended with the Croatian being fouled in the area. Referee Hernandez Hernandez pointed to the spot and Ramos calmly converted the spot kick for the 3-1 final.

Real return to action on Saturday at home versus Alaves.

Match Sheet:

1.- Leganes: Cuellar; Tito, Bustinza, Siovas (Mantovani, min. 46), Diego Rico; Gabriel Pires, Gumbau (Ruben Perez, min. 46); El Zhar, Eraso, Omar Ramos (Amrabat, min. 72) Beauvue.

3.- Real Madrid: Casilla; Carvajal, Varane, Ramos, Theo; Casemiro, Kovacic (Dani Ceballos, min. 92), Isco (Llorente, min. 86); Lucas, Benzema (Bale, min. 76), Asensio.

Goals: 1-0, min. 6: Bustinza; 1-1, min. 11: Lucas Vazquez; 1-2, min. 29: Casemiro; 1-3, min. 90: Ramos (p).

Referee: Gonzalez Gonzalez (Castilla y Leon).

Yellow cards: Diego Rico (Min. 51) for Leganes, Ramos (Min. 57) for Real Madrid, Cuellar (Min. 85) for Leganes.

Red cards: None.

Stadium: Butarque.

Attendance: 11.454.