REPORT
Cristiano Ronaldo struck a
second-half hat-trick as rampant
Real Madrid swept aside 10-man
Malaga to trim Barcelona's lead at
the top of the Primera Division
table back to seven points.
Madrid, looking to bounce back
from their disappointing goalless
draw at Deportivo La Coruna, had
the match all but sewn up by
half-time after building a 3-0 lead
through goals from Karim
Benzema, Angel Di Maria and
Marcelo.
Ronaldo then took centre-stage
with three goals after the break
- his first strikes in five games -
while Benzema added a second as
Madrid recorded their biggest
league win under Jose Mourinho.
Ronaldo asked to leave the pitch
immediately after scoring his third
goal and Madrid's seventh in the
77 minute, leaving the hosts with
10 men for the remainder of the
match having used all three
substitutes.
Malaga were already a man down
by that stage, though, with
defender Manolo Gaspar having
been dismissed in the 67th minute
after conceding a penalty.
The defeat for Malaga means the
Andalusian side remain stuck in
the bottom two and made it a
miserable return to the Bernabeu
for coach Manuel Pellegrini, who
was replaced by Mourinho last
summer after just one season in
charge of the Spanish giants.
Mourinho, who caused a stir
yesterday with comments about
Pellegrini's subsequent decision to
take over at Malaga, opted to
start with Benzema up front
instead of Emmanuel Adebayor
and he was rewarded when the
Frenchman opened the scoring in
the 27th minute.
Xabi Alonso curled a free-kick in
towards the far post where
Benzema neatly steered a volley
past Willy Caballero with the
outside of his right foot.
That opened the floodgates as
Madrid created chance after
chance en route to making it 23
successive wins at the Bernabeu.
Mesut Ozil was unlucky not to
score when his 29th-minute free-
kick came back off the post but
Madrid were celebrating a second
goal soon enough though, thanks
in large to some dismal defending
by Malaga.
Eliseu Pereira and Gaspar both
should have done better, but
their errors allowed Marcelo to
put the ball through for Di Maria
to race onto, and the Argentinian
coolly slotting past Caballero.
The same two Madrid players
then combined again to add a
third goal on the stroke of half-
time, with Di Maria's chip over the
Malaga defence being slammed in
on the half-volley by Marcelo.
With the points all but secured,
the only question was how many
goals Madrid would add in the
second period.
Ronaldo was denied by a fine
save by Caballero soon after the
re-start, but the Portugal
international got his name on the
scoresheet six minutes into the
second half.
Madrid went close again through
Ronaldo before Benzema made it
5-0 with his fifth of the season in
the 62nd minute, nodding in at
the far-post from a fine Marcelo
cross.
Malaga briefly had a chance to
pull a goal back in the 65th but
Sebastian Fernandez fired wide
with just Iker Casillas to beat,
and two minutes after that the
visitors found themselves 6-0
down and reduced to 10 men.
Marcelo's cross struck Gaspar's
arm in the area, earning the
Malaga right-back his second
yellow card and Madrid a penalty,
which Ronaldo slammed into the
roof of the net.
Rampant Madrid almost added a
seventh two minutes after that
but Benzema and Ronaldo were
both denied hat-trick goals by a
brilliant double-save from
Caballero.
Ronaldo was celebrating his treble
soon enough though, diverting
Sergio Canales' cross past
Caballero to complete the scoring
three minutes from time.
That was Ronaldo's 27th league
goal of the season but it was also
his last action of the match as he
left the pitch immediately, and
Madrid will be hoping it is nothing
serious.
Topic: Real madrid 7-0 Malaga (Read 2456 times)
