Joselu, 33, has firmly established himself as a Real Madrid striker.

Real Madrid defeated Real Sociedad 2-1 in the fifth round of the 2023-24 La Liga season at the Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid, Spain, at 4:00 a.m. ET on April 18. The win extends Real’s unbeaten streak at the top of the standings to five games since the start of the season.

The hosts lined up in a 4-1-2-1-2 formation. Rodriguez and Joselu started up top, with Jude Bellingham backing them up. Toni Kroos and Federico Valverde lined up in the middle, with Aurélien Chouaményi in front of the back four. Fran Garcia, David Alaba, Antonio Rudiger, and Daniel Carvajal anchored the defense, with Kepa Arrizabalaga pulling on the goalkeeping gloves.

It was a difficult game. Real conceded early in the first half. In the fifth minute, Kubo Takefusa sent a cross into the box that Ander Varenechea headed home. The Kepa goalkeeper made an incredible reflex save, but Varenechea pounced on the second ball and slotted it home.

They almost gave up a second goal. In the 11th minute, Kubo shot from outside the penalty box and the ball went into the corner of the net, but Mikel Oyarzabal, who was on the doorstep, obstructed the Kepa goalkeeper’s view and was offside. Kubo’s goal was therefore disallowed.

Real scored twice in the second half to put the game out of reach. In the second minute of the second half, Valverde took a cutback pass from Garcia and tried to shoot inside, but the ball hit the post and headed into the back of the net. Then, in the 15th minute, Garcia crossed from the left flank and Joselu rattled the net with a high, hard-hitting header from the edge of the box.

After the game, head coach Carlo Ancelotti praised Joselu. “I really like Joselu. He’s a guarantee. He’s very important because he’s the only player with quality in the attack. We have missed players like him in the last few seasons,” he said.

Joselu took to his personal social media to say, “I’m very happy to win at the Santiago Bernabeu. Let’s meet again on Wednesday,” he said on his personal social media account. 메이저놀이터

Joselu spent the early part of his career at Real, but left without much success. He then bounced around a number of clubs before joining Espanyol ahead of last season, where he scored 16 goals in La Liga.

He was on the radar of Real, who were in need of a frontline striker, and the move was finalized this summer. It was a one-season loan deal with an option to buy for €1.5 million. Upon returning to Real, Joselu broke down in tears during his signing ceremony.

Joselu is virtually the only frontline striker in the Real squad for the 2023-24 season. With the departure of Karim Benzema, Joselu has a lot on his shoulders. There were some initial concerns, but he’s put in a string of performances to put them to rest. He has produced offensive points in three consecutive games, with an assist against Celta Vigo in Round 3, a goal against Getafe in Round 4, and a goal against Sociedad in Round 5.