Cristiano Ronaldo records 41st La Liga strike as Los Blancos reach 107 goals
Cristiano Ronaldo’s 41st La Liga goal helped move Real Madrid seven points clear of Barcelona at the summit of the Spanish Primera Division as the team came from behind to deny a valiant Sporting Gijon side at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Los Blancos found themselves behind when Sergio Ramos handled in the penalty area gifting Miguel de las Cuevas the chance to fire the visiting team ahead from the resulting spot kick, which the Argentinean duly obliged in doing.
Jose Mourinho’s side responded seven minutes later when Ramos, making amends for his earlier error, found Gonzalo Higuain with a superb cross to nod home. Ronaldo completed the turnaround in the 73rd minute before Karim Benzema scored the third late on.
In a tiresome opening that was broken up by constant stoppages Madrid was unable to find its usual rhythm as Sporting remained defensively sound continuously frustrating the home side.
Despite Real Madrid’s dominance in the early stages the best chance fell to Trejo after the visitors launched a quick breakaway. Alvaro Arbeloa was pressured into a mistake by the midfielder allowing the Sporting man a sight of goal but could only muster a tame effort that Iker Casillas comfortable saved.
The fabric of the tie continued with Madrid dominating, as both Marcelo and Cristiano Ronaldo tried their luck with long range efforts but neither truly tested Juan Pablo. The Asturians offering little as an attacking force suddenly sensed an opportunity when Trejo burst through forcing the Madrid defense to retreat. The Argentinean looked to cut inside to fashion himself a shooting opportunity only to be denied by Sergio Ramos’ arm resulting in the visitors being awarded a spot kick.
Miguel de las Cuevas, the sole goal scorer in this fixture last season, stepped up to emphatically fire Sporting ahead stunning the Bernabeu faithful.
Jose Mourinho’s side continued to be frustrated by Los Rojiblancos’ diligent defending but were finally rewarded seven minutes after falling behind. Ramos delivered a superb cross toward the far post where Higuain had managed to steal a yard giving him the room to divert the ball home with a glancing header.
Los Blancos came close to going ahead prior to the break but Nuri Sahin’s wonderful free kick clipped the top of the crossbar as the sides went into the interval level.
The significance of the match was realized on the Real Madrid bench at the break as Mourinho opted to introduced Benzema and Angel Di Maria in the hope of finding a second goal.
Similarly to the first half Madrid controlled the early exchanges as they looked to force an opening but the northerner’s defense remained resolute as the home side’s best chances came from set pieces but Ronaldo failed to convert any of them despite his recent heroics.
As the match entered into the final furlong Sporting began to slow the tempo in the hope of frustrating the Madridistas, but it was in vain as the home side’s pressure told 17 minutes from time. Di Maria worked space allowing him to swing in a cross that found Ronaldo unmarked and the Portugal international beautifully directed his header into the back of the net via the base of the far post.
Sporting Gijon’s resilience was finally undone in the 81st minute when Mesut Ozil slipped a gorgeous ball through to Benzema. The Frenchman, from an acute angle, thrashed his finish past Juan Pablo into the opposite corner as Mourinho’s side notched their 107th goal of the campaign equaling the record held by John Toshack’s 1989-90 team.
Marcelo and Benzema both wasted late opportunities to find the 108th goal but Madrid will know that heading into next week's El Clasico that it will be a minimum of four points clear of Barca, while Sporting continues to look destined for the drop.