PLAYER WHO MADE THE 300TH MARK
Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 300th Real
Madrid goal as the European champions remained four points adrift of La
Liga leaders Barcelona with a 2-0 win at Rayo Vallecano.
Earlier, Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez were on target as Barca eased past Almeria 4-0.
Barca took over half an hour to make the
breakthrough, but Messi did so in style as he curled home his 44th goal
of the season into the far corner.
Suarez made the game safe when he fired
into the top corner 10 minutes after the break and bagged his second of
the evening in stoppage time after Marc Bartra headed home the third
from Xavi’s corner.
“It is the stage of the season where we have a lot to play for,” said Suarez.
“We ought to show our personality because we are Barcelona.
“In the league we depend on ourselves and we need to continue in this vein.”
Madrid endured a much more uncomfortable
evening in a capital derby at Rayo before Ronaldo and James Rodriguez
struck midway through the second-half.
“We suffered, but in the end we won
which is the most important thing,” said Rodriguez, who again impressed
in just his second game back after two months out with a foot injury.
“In the first-half they were intense, we
knew that in the second they would get a bit tired and not be able to
pressure so much and it was like that.”
Rayo dominated the first period in terms
of possession, but it was still Madrid who had the better chances as
Rodriguez shot straight at Diego Cobeno when unmarked inside the area
before Ronaldo headed over from the Colombian’s free-kick.
At the other end, Iker Casillas made a
fine save to keep the visitors level at the break as he parried Roberto
Trashorras’s back post header to safety.
Madrid started much stronger after the
break and were inches away from an opener when Gareth Bale’s header from
Rodriguez’s cross looped just wide.
There was then a huge moment of
controversy when Ronaldo was booked despite appearing to be clearly
brought down by Antonio Amaya inside the area meaning he will miss
Saturday’s visit of Eibar to the Santiago Bernabeu.
The chances continued to come and go for
Real as Benzema, Marcelo and Bale fired just off target in a matter of
minutes, and the goal finally arrived when a fine run and cross from
Dani Carvajal picked out Ronaldo and he sealed his triple century of
goals for Madrid in just 288 games.
Six minutes later it was 2-0 as Ronaldo turned provider this time for Rodriguez to curl home.
Barcelona also started slowly at the
Camp Nou as boss Luis Enrique made six changes with one eye on
Saturday’s tough trip to Sevilla.
However, Messi opened the scoring in
brilliant fashion when he found space on the edge of the area and curled
into the far corner with pinpoint accuracy.
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