Real Madrid goalkeeper Kiko Casilla has paid tribute to James Rodriguez after the Colombian scored his first goal of the season in Sunday's 2-0 win over Espanyol.

James has struggled for regular football under Los Blancos boss Zinedine Zidane since the Frenchman took charge, but capped his first start of the campaign with a goal on Sunday night.

Casilla, who is enjoying a run in the team due to the absence of Keylor Navas, has branded the 25-year-old "a very important player" as Real Madrid maintained their 100% start to the new La Liga campaign.

"I don't think in the first 20 minutes we were playing like we want to play. They have also got players who play very intensively and are very quick," Casilla told reporters.

"But we've got a quality side and James's goal was incredible. He's a very important player, he showed today what he can do and the goals he can score."

Real Madrid, who are the early leaders in La Liga, have now won their last 16 league matches, which is a run of games which stretches back to February.