Bellingham won Saturday's El Clasico with two goals for Real Madrid against Barcelona – and he continued a habit of his...
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Jude Bellingham has joked that he 'gets a lot of grief' for scoring the majority of his Real Madrid goals from close range.
The England midfielder, 20, continued his stunning start to life at Real with a game-winning brace in Saturday's 2-1 El Clasico victory away to Barcelona.
And while Bellingham's first goal was a fine strike from distance, his 92nd-minute clincher fell firmly into the 'tap-in' bracket.
Bellingham has scored 13 goals in 13 appearances in all competitions for Real, eclipsing Zinedine Zidane's single-season best for the club (Image credit: Getty Images)
And the stats show that Bellingham has become a real fox in the box since his summer switch from Borussia Dortmund to the Bernabeu: his equalising goal against Barca was his first from outside the box for Carlo Ancelotti's side – out of 13 goals in all competitions.
Speaking to Real Madrid TV after his team's triumph in El Clasico – which kept Real top of La Liga – Bellingham said: "Which one was my favourite Clasico goal? Probably the first one. I can imagine everyone battering me for the second one: I know I get a lot of grief for scoring tap-ins! But I was on the move and you create your own luck and I've done it again.
"I got the ball on the edge of the box [for the first goal]. I've been saying for a few weeks that I need to try from [outside the box]. Maybe the opponents expect me to try to get into the box or combine with a teammate, and I wanted to surprise them by hitting it from outside the box. I know I have the technique, and it went into the top corner."
Why Jude Bellingham can win England the Euros
Bellingham – who has also scored for England this season, netting in September's 3-1 friendly win away to Scotland – will hope to add to his Real tally in this Sunday's home La Liga clash with Rayo Vallecano.
Get FourFourTwo Newsletter
The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.
The former Borussia Dortmund man joined Los Blancos in a €103m (£88.5m) move back in June.
Tom Hancock started freelancing for FourFourTwo in April 2019 and has also written for the Premier League and Opta Analyst, among others. He supports Wycombe Wanderers and has a soft spot for Wealdstone. A self-confessed statto, he has been known to watch football with a spreadsheet (or several) open...
