Real Madrid hosted and defeated Real Valladolidby 4-3 this Saturday afternoon, in another game counting for the Spanish League. With this win, the Merengues assured that Barça won't celebrate La Liga title tomorrow, even in the case the Catalans end up winning their game against Betis. Real Madrid goals arrived from two headers by Cristiano Ronaldo, one nice finish from Kaká and an own-goal fromValladolid's player, Hernández.
Real Madrid rebounded from their mid-week UEFA Champions League elimination, with a 4-3 win against Real Valladolid, at the Santiago Bernabéu. The Merenguesseemed a bit disconnected from the game, which is comprehensible given the harsh way they got out of Europe just last Tuesday. Any slip today would grant Barcelonawith a chance to be crowned Spanish champions tomorrow at the Camp Nou and that has probably been an extra motivation factor that the Merengues used in their favor. Nevertheless, the first home side goal came from an own-goal deflection and got followed by two great Cristiano Ronaldo headers, as well as a left-foot strike fromRicardo Kaká. Real Madrid returns to the pitch right next Wednesday, in another home fixture for La Liga, this time against Malaga CF.
Cristiano Ronaldo photos in Real Madrid vs Valladolid
Real Madrid 4-3 Valladolid goals and highlights:
Real Madrid 4-3 Valladolid goals and highlights:
Real Madrid got back on their feet this Saturday, but it wasn't as easy as everyone certainly had pictured ahead of this match. Real Valladolid visited the Madrid knowing that the home side could quickly show some signs of insecurity and with that in mind, they hoped to also exploit a negative and noisy reaction coming from the fans at theSantiago Bernabéu.
Valladolid got in front still inside the first 10 minutes, after a big mistake from bothAngel di María and Ricardo Carvalho. The Argentinian tried a risky long pass to the center of his team's defense, but didn't seem to have done it with enough strength. Ricardo Carvalho misread it and allowed himself to be anticipated byValladolid's number 10, Óscar. The Spanish player didn't lose time to escape and without opposition much opposition ahead he finished it off already inside Real Madrid's penalty area, to put Valladolid in the lead.
The home side tried to react as quickly as possible and saw their efforts being rewarded near the 26th minute. Angel di María picked a ball on the right, zigazzed to the middle and struck the ball low towards Valladolid's goal. Fortunately, theArgentinian's shot got deflected on Valiente's foot and tricked the visitors' goalkeeper, Jaime. The equalizer was in and seeing the way the game was going, everyone knew it would only be a matter of time until we could see more goals at theSantiago Bernabéu.
And so it was... Just six minutes after things had been leveled, Real Madrid got in front for the first time in the afternoon. Who else but Cristiano Ronaldo to score this precious goal, from a nifty header after a great cross by Di María. ThePortuguese forward found himself free of marking and even though he had his back turned to Valladolid's goal, he demonstrated once more why he is also regarded as one of the best headers in the game.
However, things wouldn't go as smoothly as everyone could expect after thatRonaldo goal and Real Madrid didn't exactly have a walk in the park waiting for them. Valladolid would equalize the game at 2 still before the break, in a nice team-play around the 35th minute. Omar sent in a terrific low cross to the far post and Javi Guerra simply pushed it in, towards an empty net. Diego López was once again exempt of any responsibility in this goal...
The four goals produced in the first 45 minutes were promising an exciting second half at the Bernabéu. Valladolid was playing without pressure, as they stand 12th inLa Liga, with a safe point-margin over the relegation zone. Real Madrid in the other hand, was looking to recover from the upset in mid-week and avoid that Barcelonacould be given the chance to celebrate the Spanish League this Sunday. For that to happen, the home side would settle for nothing but a victory...
The Merengues returned to the lead after just 3 minutes played in the second half, in a play where Karim Benzema started by combining very well with Angel di María. The Frenchman would then assist Kaká coming from behind on the left, for theBrazilian to score his third goal in the league, from a strong left-foot finish that Jaimefailed to block. 3-2 to Real Madrid but there was still plenty of time to be played and it surely didn't look like we had seen everything by then...
In the 70th minute of the game, Cristiano Ronaldo elevated in the air more than anyone else, after a corner kick taken by Mesut Ozil. The Portuguese headed the ball on the peak of his own jump and beat Jaime for the second time on the afternoon. This was Ronaldo's 53rd goal this season, his 33rd in La Liga and his 199th goal in all competitions, since he arrived at Real Madrid (not counting with that goal that got deflected on Pepe's back on its way in, back in September 2010, against Real Sociedad).
The final result would only be sealed near the final whistle of the referee, but the team celebrating it wasn't Real Madrid, but rather Valladolid. The visitors reached their third goal in the Bernabéu in the 87th minute, after a short clearance coming off a corner-kick that allowed Lluis Sastre to fire up a rocket into the back of the net. There wasn't much that Diego López could have done there, but Real Madrid would manage to hang on to the result in the remaining minutes and finish the game with a4-3 victory over Valladolid.
Real Madrid line-up vs Valladolid:
Goalkeeper: Diego López
Defenders: Fábio Coentrão, Pepe, Ricardo Carvalho, Nacho
Midfielders: Khedira, Modric, Kaká
Attackers: Di María, Cristiano Ronaldo and Benzema
Real Madrid | vs | Valladolid |
|---|---|---|
4 | Goals | 3 |
27 | Shots | 14 |
12 | Shots on goal | 6 |
7 | Corner kicks | 10 |
7 | Fouls commited | 10 |
1 | Yellow cards | 3 |
0 | Red cards | 0 |
52% | Ball possession | 48% |
Cristiano Ronaldo next game for Real Madrid will be against Malaga for theSpanish League, on May 8, 2013. You can watch Real Madrid vs Malaga, Barcelona vs Betis, Manchester United vs Chelsea and Liverpool vs Everton, all matches provided from our soccer live section.
Real Madrid next game:
Real Madrid vs Malaga kick-off time (08-05-2013):
Jakarta (Indonesia) | GMT+7: 03:30
Spain (Madrid) | GMT+1: 21:30
Portugal and England (Lisbon/London) | GMT+0: 20:30
Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) | GMT-3: 17:30
New York (United States) | GMT-4: 16:30
Los Angeles (United States) | GMT-7: 13:30
Beijing (China) | GMT+8: 04:30
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