By David Lee Wheatley
Welshman Gareth Bale scored on his debut in a Real Madrid shirt last night, as his new club took home a hard-earned point from Villarreal following an entertaining 2-2 draw.
The winger featured for 62 minutes at El Madrigal, scoring an equaliser to make it 1-1 after 38 minutes while undertaking a less-than-familiar role on the right. He managed to register a reasonably good performance, while endearing himself to the travelling fans with his strike to level after Cani put the hosts in front.
Dani Carvajal created the opportunity for Bale to score with a great run into the box on the right-hand side, before he crossed low towards the back post where the new boy slid in to beat his man to the ball and poke it home.
Bale almost got a second with a powerful left-footed effort from 25 yards that sailed just over the bar and he showed off his blistering pace on one particular occasion down the right in the second-half when beating two opposing players with ease before his attempted cross was unfortunately blocked.
The 24-year-old looked a little jaded when substituted just after the hour mark, but will surely feel ecstatic with a dream start to his career in Madrid. Only four minutes after he'd left the field of play, Real grabbed the lead through a deflected goal from Cristiano Ronaldo, which seemingly set them on their way to victory. However, the lead didn't last long as Villarreal levelled through Giovani on 70 minutes to shock the visiting side.
Most observers viewed Bale's first appearance as a success, but the team as a whole will be disappointed not to have secured the win against their newly-promoted opponents.
Once the Wales international gathers full fitness, he will be capable of making a huge impression at Real in the coming months and years. For Bale, yesterday simply couldn't have gone much better.
Twitter: @davewh1980
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