Football Soccer - Real Madrid v Espanyol - Spanish La Liga Santander - Santiago Bernabeu stadium, Madrid, Spain - 18/02/17 - Real Madrid's Gareth Bale in action against Espanyol's David Lopez. REUTERS/Javier Barbancho
BARCELONA (Reuters) - Gareth Bale was given a rousing welcome back by Real Madrid supporters when he came off the bench against Espanyol on Saturday and just 12 minutes later gave them a goal in return to seal a 2-0 win that kept them on top of La Liga.
Bale collected a through ball from Isco and darted into the box, taking one touch before lashing it in off the far post for the perfect return after almost three months out with injury.
