MADRID, Sept. 23 (Xinhua) -- Dani Ceballos took his chance as Zinedine Zidane gave him his first start of the season since joining Real Madrid from Betis over the summer by scoring his side's first two goals as they won 2-1 away to bottom of the table Deportivo Alaves.
Madrid missed a host of second half chances to have won by a bigger margin, but Alaves hit the post twice and it was not until the final whistle that the three points were secured.
The win keeps Madrid in touch with FC Barcelona but means Alaves are still without a point all campaign, although Manu Garcia did have the honor of netting their first goal of the campaign with a 39th minute header.
Injuries and an imminent Champions League trip away to Borussia Dortmund saw Zinedine Zidane make several changes to the side that lost at home to Betis on Wednesday night, with Gareth Bale and Luka Modric surprisingly left on the bench for Lucas Vazquez and Ceballos.
Madrid opened the scoring in the 10th minute when Ceballos scored from the edge of the area after a weak challenge from Ibai Gomez allowed him to fire in a low shot.
Alaves on Friday named Gianni de Biasi as their new first team coach and perhaps the players were keen to impress as they produced some of their best football of the campaign and were rewarded when Garcia scored with a bullet header in the 40th minute.
The home side's joy lasted just a minute before a bad error from goalkeeper Fernando Pacheco allowed Ceballos to scramble the ball home from close range and put Madrid back in front.
Pacheco may have been at fault for Madrid's second goal, but he went some way towards redeeming himself with second half stops from Ronaldo and Isco.
Ronaldo hit the post with a left foot shot as Madrid pinned Alaves back, but they nearly paid for missing chances when Alaves substitute Pedraza saw a shot deflected onto the Madrid bar and then hit the post when clean though on the visitors' goal after Sergio Ramos had blazed over when it looked easier to score. Enditem
