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| Comeback with three goals in six minutes |
Real Madrid returned to the Bernabeu 14 days after their last home game intent on achieving their seventh consecutive victory before the international break. The matter was complicated six minutes into the match. A cross by Giovani from the left wing was met by the head of Nsue. The cross gained speed after the header and Diego Lopez’s stretch could not prevent Mallorca taking the lead. The visitors surprised Madrid with their first shot on goal and now Madrid had to come from behind, but there was still eighty minutes of the match left. The Whites did not need so much time to equalise. Modric drove forward with the ball and played a pinpoint pass for Pepe, attacking from behind the defenders, who found himself against Aouate. The Croat’s pass was magnificent, and Pepe’s pass beat the defence, finding Higuaín, who only had to touch the ball into the goal in the fourteenth minute
The joy of those in attendance at the Bernabeu was short-lived. Mallorca went ahead again, although on this occasion from a set piece. A corner taken by Giovani from the left, was headed by Bigas and Alfaro, at the far post, scored with his head in the twenty-first minute. The home side’s reaction, as had happened with the game’s first goal, did not take long to manifest, but on this occasion the crossbar prevented the equaliser. Higuain created the chance after a long ball into the area and Cristiano Ronaldo, charging onto the opponent’s goal, was the player to shoot in the thirtieth minute. In a little over half an hour the match had seen three goals and a shot ricochet off the crossbar. The pace of the match hinted that there would be more goals. They would come in the second half, however. Kaka, falling over, attempted a long shot that was stopped by Aouate in the thirty-seventh minute.
Mourinho took a more offensive tack after the break and replaced Arbeloa and Morata with Özil and Benzema. The changes brought the desired effect by the Portuguese coach in less than ten minutes and the Whites, who were a serious force, levelled the clash in the fifty-first minute and then went ahead in the fifty-fourth minute. Özil took the corner for the first goal and Cristiano Ronaldo, with his head, beat the defence. The speed with which the Madrid players collected the ball from their opponent’s goal and took it to the midfield so that the visiting side could restart the match clearly demonstrated the team’s ambition. The home side’s third goal was a work of art from Modric, who converted a clearance by Pina with a shot from the penalty arc that rocketed into the goal defended by Aouate.
The home side’s siege had achieved its goal, but they still wanted more and they did so three minutes later. A great final pass by Özil and Higuain scored his second goal in his 250th official match for the Whites. Real Madrid enjoyed themselves and put on a spectacle for those in attendance at the Santiago Bernabéu. The fifth goal arrived in added time. On this occasion it was the Argentine who assisted Benzema, who completed the thrashing. Real Madrid's seventh consecutive victory and a huge morale boost before the international break.
Summary
Stadium: Santiago Bernabeu
Attendance: 77,500
Goals: 0-1 Emilio Nsue min. 6; 1-1 Gonzalo Higuain min.15; 1-2 Alfaro min. 21: 2-2 Cristiano Ronaldo min.52; 3-2 Luka Modric min.54; 4-2 Gonzalo Higuain min.57; 5-2 Karim Benzema min.92
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