Real Madrid 1-1 Eibar: Gareth Bale cancels out Fran Rico opener but Cristiano Ronaldo and Co fail to find winner in front of home supporters

• Former Real Madrid B midfielder Fran Rico opened the scoring
• Gareth Bale cancelled out Rico’s goal just 11 minutes later
• Real Madrid have now drawn their last four games

Gareth Bale scored his 50th league goal for Real Madrid but it was not enough to prevent them from stretching their winless run to an unforgivable (by the club’s standards) four games as they were held 1-1 by tiny Eibar.

Bale’s half century of La Liga goals is more impressive because it’s come in just 87 games. That doesn’t beat Cristiano Ronaldo’s record – he did it in 51 matches – but it does beat Lionel Messi who got his first 50 goals in 103 games.

But all of that will be small consolation to him as he goes off on international duty with Wales after Real Madrid’s fourth straight draw took them dangerously close to crisis territory.

The two-week break will give him the chance to get back to winning ways with his country but back in Madrid the doubters will have plenty of time to park up their tanks on Zinedine Zidane’s lawn. His side have now taken just three points from their last possible nine. And they dropped two points in the Champions League too.

There was talk before the game that La Liga minnows Eibar would play in their second yellow strip because Las Palmas, Villarreal and Borussia Dortmund had all played in yellow as they held Real Madrid to draws.

But they ignored superstition and played in their claret and blue shirts and it didn’t matter. Madrid’s problems evidently go deeper than a touch of yellow fever.

Zidane had warned his players they needed to be alert from the first kick but Madrid were one-down in no time and against an Eibar side that had never scored at the Bernabeu. Their last four visits had finished 13-0 on aggregate but on five minutes they had the lead.

Pedro Leon, who had a particularly miserable season at Real Madrid under Jose Mourinho in 2010-11, crossed from the right and when the ball sailed over Pepe’s head Fran Rico got in-front of Dani Carvajal to head past Keylor Navas.

It was all Madrid’s defensive woes bundled up in one goal. They are an open wound down their left-hand side with or without the currently injured Marcelo; Pepe is short of match sharpness; Dani Carvajal, for all his attacking excellence, can fail to read defensive situations; and Keylor Navas also looks rusty after missing the start of the season with injury.

It was a nice moment for Rico though. He was a youngster at Madrid during 2008-2011 but his career was derailed by a serious knee injury. Now he had become the first Eibar player to score for Eibar at the Bernabeu in the club’s history.

Zidane’s team had been caught sleeping in their blocks against a confident Elche side whose 10-point haul coming into the game was their best ever start.

Real Madrid got themselves level on 18 minutes and it was Bale rising to head in a Cristiano Ronaldo cross that leveled for them.

Ronaldo has now given Bale seven assists in the league. He has some way to go to match Bale’s 23 assists for him, but the Portuguese forward was in impressive form in the first half, hugging the touchline more than usual and getting past players and crossing well with his left foot.

On the half hour he fed Danilo down that left-hand side and Madrid should have taken the lead. The full back was tripped by Ander Capa but when it would have been easy to go to ground and win a penalty he stayed on his feet and crossed to Karim Benzema. His sportsmanship deserved a goal but the French striker steered his first time shot well wide – the effort more like a clearance than a shot at goal.

Pedro Leon continued to impress and had a shot saved by Navas and Ronaldo headed a Bale cross over with two minutes left but neither side could get themselves in front before the break.

Carvajal was booked in the last piece of action of the first half and Bale went into the book too for contesting the decision and appearing to suggest the referee hadn’t seen the incident because the Madrid sunshine was in his eyes. It was hot, it was early – Madrid hate these siesta-time kick-offs – and they were playing with the hangover of those three draws.

Zidane wasted no time with his changes. Alvaro Morata replaced the below-par Benzema and Nacho came on for Varane for the second half.

And they soon forced their first chance when Morata headed Bale’s deep cross back across the face of the Eibar area. Ronaldo missed his kick but when Isco failed to get his shot away Ronaldo was given another chance but saw his shot saved. Morata then scored after Ronaldo’s header had been saved but the goal was correctly flagged offside.

Ronaldo then played the perfect pass through to Isco in space but he inexplicably turned away from goal and back into trouble. When the ball ended up at Morata’s feet the forward dived over goalkeeper Aitor Riesgo’s challenge and was booked for simulation. Real Madrid kept pouring forward Gareth Bale sent a clever header onto Riesgo’s post.

But Sergi Enrich headed just over at the other end. Eibar were very much holding their own against a Real Madrid side missing the security of Casemiro in midfield and the invention of Luca Modric who is out for a month with a cartilage problem in his left knee. Madrid huffed and puffed but Jose Luis Mendilibar’s team managed to hang on for a famous point.