Mallorca 0 - 5 Real Madrid (Spanish League, Day 9)

Real Madrid were focused, solid and reliable in the Iberostar Stadium. The Whites did not give Mallorca, who until now had won three of four matches at home, any chances and sealed the match in less than half an hour with goals from Higuaín in the 8th minute and Ronaldo in the 22nd. They combined to bring the third and fourth midway through the second half. The Portuguese got the assist for the first and the Argentine was the executor and sealed his seventeenth brace for the club. For the next goal the roles were reversed. Callejon, in injury time, scored the last to seal the fifth win in the league, the team’s seventh consecutive season unbeaten on the island and the second straight clean sheet in the championship.

Goal-fest in Mallorca. Real Madrid scored five goals.

Real Madrid took to the field at the Iberostar Stadium with the same team that finished the match in Dortmund. Modric and Higuain, therefore, were the only changes in the starting line-up from last Wednesday's match. It was the Argentine who needed just eight minutes to put the Whites in front. He did well with visitors’ first chance. A through ball from Di Maria and Gonzalo ‘Pipa’ Higuain took advantage of an Anderson mistake whilst clearing the ball and volleyed past Aouate. It could not have started better for Real Madrid. 0-1 and Mallorca had to push their lines forward and leave more space in their tight defensive formation if they wanted to get the equaliser.

Real Madrid wanted to take advantage of that and kill off the game on the counter attack, an aspect of the game in which they dominate like few others. Cristiano Ronaldo went close in the 10th minute but his venomous strike was met by Aouate. The second goal did come twelve minutes later. It was not the counter attack what the Whites’ took advantage of but rather their relentless pressure on their opponent’s bringing the ball out of defence. Özil won the ball and passed to Di Maria who in turn passed to Higuain who got the assist for Ronaldo’s finish. The Portuguese was the only one who took two touches in the move. One to control the ball and get lose his marker and another to finish accurately into the far corner. 0-2 in less than half an hour and the Portuguese’s thirteenth goal in the eight consecutive matches in which he has scored (his best streak for a club).

The match was almost safe but the Whites were not satisfied. Their dominance was overwhelming and they wanted to increase their lead. Mallorca, meanwhile, only created danger from a cross-shot from Nsue that Casillas deflected for a corner in the 18th minute. With the majority of the possession and the best chances for the visitors the half came to an end.

The script did not change after the break, although Mallorca came out much braver. In fact, the first time that the visitors took a shot was from the edge of the area from Ramos in the 58th minute. Ronaldo also had a chance two minutes later but his shot from distance was caught by Aouate, who could not stop the third in the 70th minute. An accurate assist from the Portuguese and even better finish from Higuaín, who scored his seventeenth brace for the club.

With little time to digest the third, Mallorca received another blow, which also came from a combination of the two authors of the earlier goal. This time there was a change of roles. Higuain gave the pass and Ronaldo, getting in front of the defence, scored the fourth on 73 minutes. Callejon, in injury time, scored the fifth. Goal-fest in Mallorca to get their fifth win in the league, the seventh consecutive season in which the team is unbeaten on the island and the second straight clean sheet in the championship.

Summary

Stadium: Iberostar Stadium
Attendance: 15,700
Goals: 0-1, min. 8: Higuain. 0-2: min. 23: Cristiano Ronaldo. 0-3, min. 70: Higuain. 0-4, min. 72: Cristiano Ronaldo; 0-5, min. 91: Callejon.