Madrid show Betis who is the Real deal
Real Madrid kept up the pressure on league leaders Real Sociedad with a 4-1 victory over Real Betis on Saturday.
Real Madrid kept up the pressure on league leaders Real Sociedad with a 4-1 victory over Real Betis on Saturday.
The win means the European and world club champions are only one point behind their Basque rivals although Real Sociedad have a game in hand and play host to Espanyol on Sunday.
Betis had the best of the first half and nearly took the lead after just 10 minutes when Brazilian international Denilson hit the post.
The Seville-based side finally went in front when Fernando Fernandez scored after 36 minutes, bundling the ball into the net after Denilson had slotted the ball through to him from the left wing.
However Madrid took only seven minutes to get back on level terms when Raul Gonzalez regain his scoring touch with his first goal in seven games.
The body blow just before the break left Betis badly winded and they were on the ropes throughout the second half as Madrid improved immeasureably from their lacklustre first half performance.
The hosts took the lead four minutes after the break when Luis Figo got his ninth goal of the season, and his fourth from the spot, after Betis captain Juan Jose Canas had crashed into Roberto Carlos.
Zinedine Zidane added Madrid's third just after the hour when he played a clever one-two with World Player of the Year Ronaldo and then sent a curling right foot shot past Betis goalkeeper Toni Prats.
Ronaldo then got himself on the scoresheet two minutes before the end of regulation time, although he made hard work of his ninth goal of the season.
Steve McManaman set Ronaldo free with a inch-perfect pass into the box and Prats decided that the only course of action was to bring Ronaldo down.
Figo then decided to pass the honour of taking the penalty to the Brazilian World Cup winner, only for Prats to stop the half-hearted effort with his legs.
However Ronaldo had the presence of mind to jump quickly on the loose ball and rounded the sprawling Prats before eventaully finding the net, and then walked back to the centre wiping his visibly sweating brow in an exaggerated fashion.
The victory also extends Madrid's undefeated streak in the Santiago Bernabeu stadium to 44 league games, although it is still some way short of their own Spanish league record of 121 home games between the 1957 and 1965.
Villarreal continued their impressive start to 2003 with their fourth win in six games, beating Valladolid 1-0 to move up to eighth.
The game was a dull affair with the only goal of the game coming from the penalty spot, Jorge Lopez scoring after 24 minutes after Martin Palermo had been brought down in the box by Valladolid goalkeeper Albano Bizarri.