Malaga: Real Madrid took the overnight lead in the Spanish league after Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat-trick in 15 first-half minutes of a 4-0 rout against Malaga on Saturday, even as Barcelona were held to a 0-0 draw by Sevilla in a late game.
Madrid were clear winners against Malaga in their La Liga clash at the Estadio La Roselada, despite the home side's impressive second-half performance.
Ronaldo was back among the goals, while Gonzalo Higuain was also on the scoresheet as the away side blew their hosts away with a blistering opening 45 minutes.
The win put Madrid one point ahead of Barcelona atop the standings and two points ahead of Levante, who travel to Villarreal on Sunday in search of their sixth straight victory.
Expectations were high in Malaga after Qatari owner Sheik Abdullah Bin Nasser Al-Thani spent 60 million Euros to overhaul the squad this summer, but Madrid easily showed the Costa del Sol side is still far from challenging the league's traditional powerhouse.
Jose Mourinho continued to alternate strikers, with Higuain returning to the starting 11 as Karim Benzema began on the bench despite his strong performance in a 4-0 win over Lyon mid-week in the Champions League.
Both sides had early shouts for penalties for fouls on first Ronaldo and then Malaga's Joaquin. Neither prompted a reaction from the referee Antonio Miguel Mateu Lahoz however, despite the protests of players from both sides.
It was not long before Madrid took the lead. Gonzalo Higuain opened the scoring for the visitors with a cool finish from a tight angle after being played in by the impressive Angel Di Maria.
Last season's topscorer Ronaldo then quickly decided the encounter to emphatically break his three-game scoring drought.
Madrid began to exert more and more pressure on the Malaga back-line and added a second goal after 24 minutes. Di Maria was the provider once more, this time for Ronaldo. After being found down the right-hand side the Argentine cut back on to his favoured left foot before whipping a tantalising ball into the area, which left Ronaldo with the simplest of finishes from 5 yards out.
Ronaldo made it 3-0 around the half-hour mark, dancing past a couple of Malaga players before dispatching a fine low strike from the edge of the area that gave Ruben in the Malaga goal no chance.
Clearly determined not to be outdone by the free-scoring Higuain of recent weeks, Ronaldo soon made it 4-0, completing his hat-trick whilst doing so. His third was the pick of the bunch, a wonderful back-heeled volley that a bewildered Ruben in the Malaga goal could do nothing to stop. It drew Ronaldo level with Barcelona's Lionel Messi as the league's topscorers with 10 goals apiece.
Iker Casillas came to the rescue just before half-time for Madrid, rushing out from his goal to make a terrific save at the feet of the on-rushing Joaquin.
Malaga came within inches of pulling a goal back just minutes into the second half when Joaquin struck a fabulous free-kick onto Casillas' crossbar.
Casillas pulled off another world-class save, this time from Eliseu, before Rondon then flicked an effort over the Spanish international as he came racing out of goal only to see his shot land agonisingly the wrong side of the post.
Malaga continued to push forward in search of goals, Sebastian Fernandez hitting the woodwork with a fine half-volley that had Casillas well-beaten. Despite this the scoreline remained the same, with Madrid running out 4-0 victors.
The home-side made a mockery of their performance in the first-half with some wonderful play in the second, but by that time the damage was already done. Madrid dominated the first 45 minutes, which then allowed them to ease off in the second half.
"There is no comparison between the two halves," said Madrid coach Mourinho, whose team has outscored their opponents 25-3 in six straight wins in all competitions. "The first half was fantastic. Later I knew it would be impossible to repeat it. Our concentration lagged, and their pride came out."
"I liked everything about (my team). Our first touch, second pass, when we lost the ball we pressed a lot. We scored in a variety of ways. I liked every facet of the game."
Mourinho will be happy with a win that puts his side top for the time being, while Manuel Pellegrini will take solace from his side's performance in the second half and will look to get their quest for Champions League qualification back on track against Rayo Vallecano on Wednesday night.
Elsewhere, Sporting Gijon beat Granada 2-0 for their first win of the season, while Sergio Garcia's second-half goal dropped the winless Racing Santander into last place as Espanyol won 1-0 for their second straight away victory.
Comments
0 comment