La Liga - Round-up: Real battle past Valladolid

Eurosport - Mon, 13 Apr 07:57:00 2009

Real Madrid narrowed the gap on Liga leaders Barcelona to six points with a 2-0 victory over Valladolid at the Bernabeu.

FOOTBALL La liga 2008-2009 Real Madrid-Valladolid Álvaro Rubio / Foto EFE - 0

A close-range strike from Raul shortly before half time and a classic counter-attack goal from Arjen Robben with eight minutes remaining were enough for the hosts to see off their mid-table opponents.

Madrid started proceedings the brighter in the first half, with Robben and Higuain causing problems down the flanks with their pace and trickery.

Madrid were unable to capitalise on their dominance of possession, however, and the first decent opportunity of the match fell to the visitors.

Lassana Diarra gave away a free kick with a foul on Fabian Cannobio after 25 minutes and the resulting set piece was taken by Sanchez Pedro Leon, whose effort on goal was spilled by Iker Casillas under his own crossbar.

Luis Prieto followed it in and should have applied the finishing touch but, under pressure from Casillas, he somehow headed wide from two yards.

Following a run and shot from Robben that flew narrowly wide, Valladolid had another great opportunity when the ball broke loose in the Madrid area and Damian Escudero prodded it goalward.

Casillas was beaten and needed the assistance of Pepe, who cleared from his own goal line with the Valladolid players claiming it had gone over the line.

It was too close to call, however, and Madrid escaped.

The home side tried to take advantage of their fortune minutes later when Higuain burst down the left, with his cross-shot narrowly evading Raul in the middle before being beaten away by Sergio Asenjo in the visitors' goal.

With half-time looming Madrid took the lead when Higuain nipped in between two defenders on the right and slipped the ball through to Raul, who fired home left-footed from close range.

Higuain and Robben continued to create for Madrid in the second half, and it was the former who forced Sergio Asenjo into action after 56 minutes when the keeper punched away the striker's close-range effort.

Raul should have added a second with 22 minutes remaining, but he blasted over from an excellent position; and when Robben missed a straightforward header ten minutes later Valladolid were still in the game.

Pedro Lopez almost made Madrid pay for their profligacy when he beat Pepe to a right wing cross with ten minutes remaining, but he failed to find the target.

A few minutes later the visitos came close again as Henok Goitom went down in the area, but while Valladolid were appealing for a spot kick a long ball forward found Robben. The Dutchman beat his man and tucked the ball away calmly to seal the three points for Madrid.

Sevilla 0-1 Getafe

Getafe midfielder Jaime Gavilan burst clear in the 82nd minute and rifled the winner past Andres Palop.

The relegation-threatened visitors rode their luck in the final minutes when strikers Frederic Kanoute and Luis Fabiano both saw efforts come back off the post.

Gijon 2-3 Valencia

Valencia twice surrendered the lead in Gijon before Spain international Mata blasted a long-range shot past Inaki Lafuente with three minutes remaining. Valencia's win means they overtake Villarreal.

Santander 2-3 Real Betis

Jose Maria Nogues had a successful start in his first match in charge at Real Betis since replacing sacked Paco Chaparro last week, the Andalucians winning 3-2 at Racing Santander to move up to 13th.

Deportivo La Coruna 1-2 Atletico Madrid

Atletico Madrid leapfrogged Malaga into sixth on 46 thanks to a 2-1 win at eighth-placed Deportivo La Coruna.

Sergio Aguero's deft chip over onrushing Depor goalkeeper Daniel Aranzubia shortly before halftime and Simao Sabrosa's second-half strike secured three points for Atletico at the Riazor

Sean Calvert / Reuters / Eurosport

Comment 6 - 25 of 25

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  1. Varnavas P, Thanks for stating the facts.. Let Them­ Know. The only thing R.Madrid fans have is History.­ Very doon they will tak about something that happened­ before i was born. LOL.. WHO CARES? we are talking NOW.­ The facts NOW in 2009 are clear for all to see.. The CL­ quarterfinals are 180mins, and we needed only 43 mins­ to knock The German Machines Out. Let the Records speak­ for themselves.. Top Goal scorers in all competitions­ we take part in .. Champions Leage, Messi = 8. La Liga,­ Eto'o 26. Best Defence.. Best Attack.. Best Goal­ attempts, Best ball possession, and Even Best Fair­ Play. What else is there? Oh yeah.. We dont need help­ from the referree to achieve this stats.. UNLIKE­ MAdrid. LOL

    From TITUS N, on Tue 14 Apr 3:17AM

  2. getachew44.. NOW I CAN CONFIRM THAT U ARE RETARDED.­ 'cos I cant beleive u think Eto'o would play­ for R.Madrid. Just so you knw.. Eto'o would rather­ play for Almeria, on a weekly wage of £200 than play­ for R.Madrid. Get you Act together boy, U need a mental­ check up.

    From TITUS N, on Tue 14 Apr 3:12AM

  3. WHY PEOPLE FORGET THAT FALENTINO PEREZ BUY ALL THE­ PLAYERS HE PROMISES WHEN HE WAS THE PRESIDENT RONALDO­ BECKHAM OWEN ROBINHO ZIDANE ALSO FIGO BARCA BEST STAR­ AT THAT MOMENT

    From getachew44, on Mon 13 Apr 6:59PM

  4. YES HE IS! MADRID IS BEST!

    From chechenr, on Mon 13 Apr 12:09PM

  5. is not a matter what u want is matter what u can buy. i­ can assure u from now that alves iniesta etoo and­ ribery wont go to madrid whatever the money will be.­ there somethings money dont buy. florentino perez is­ not the God to do whatever he wants to do

    From Varnavas P, on Mon 13 Apr 11:50AM

  6. The next president Falentino Perez said it clearly he­ is 100% sure that he will bring the three stars Ronaldo­ kaka and Ribery also the other three Iniesta Alves and­ Eto'o so see me in june after 32 la liga title

    From getachew44, on Mon 13 Apr 11:14AM

  7. fact is that barca lost the title 2 years before while­ it was theirs. fact is also that real was kicked from­ the cup from a third division team. fact is also that­ barca plays the most attractive football on planet.­ fact is also that barca has the best attacking trio on­ planet. fact is that barca has the best player in the­ world: leo messi. fact is that barca is still in 3­ competition while madrid is in only one. THESE ARE­ FACTS

    From Varnavas P, on Mon 13 Apr 11:13AM

  8. whenever we say the facts barca fans get angry this is­ because they what will happen at the end they are­ afraid alot remaimber gurdiola said it alot we­ haven't won anything yet

    From getachew44, on Mon 13 Apr 10:28AM

  9. last year last year. actually it was 2 years before.­ theres so much desperation in these words from madrid­ fans. why dont they sh@t up and mind their own­ business. they were kicked in the cup from a third­ divicion team and lost to liverpool twice in the cl and­ the best they can do is "battle against­ valladolid". oh gongratulations real madrid!

    From Varnavas P, on Mon 13 Apr 9:32AM

  10. Titus, it looks like you are outnumbered. Too many­ Fascists and Nationalists desguised as sports fans !!

    From Tim, on Mon 13 Apr 8:49AM

  11. gatachew im under ten and thats not how to spell­ SEVILLA

    From Nath, on Mon 13 Apr 7:08AM

  12. i want barca to win CL but i will be very tiered after­ the bermuda waiting them in league valencia sivielli R­ MADRIM and villareal

    From getachew44, on Sun 12 Apr 11:53PM

  13. getachew44. shut up!

    From Half A Brain, on Sun 12 Apr 11:08PM

  14. last comment.. #9

    YOU CHAT @#$%..

    From TITUS N, on Sun 12 Apr 10:56PM

  15. barca were on the same place last year but were out of­ all three in last weeks i know that barca were good­ till now but being in all 3 competition will always­ cause you lose all of them especialy there are 6 7­ players play always they will be dead tired on vital­ time JUUUUUUUST REMAIMBER LAAAAAST YEEEEEEAR

    From getachew44, on Sun 12 Apr 10:31PM

  16. barca were on the same place last year but were out of­ all three in last weeks i know that barca were good­ till now but being in all 3 competition will always­ cause you lose all of them especialy there are 6 7­ players play always they will be dead tired on vital­ time JUUUUUUUST REMAIMBER LAAAAAST YEEEEEEAR

    From getachew44, on Sun 12 Apr 10:31PM

  17. barca were on the same place year but were out of all­ three in last weeks i know that barca were good till­ now but being in all 3 competition will always cause­ you lose all of them especialy there are 6 7 players­ play always they will be dead tired on vital time­ JUUUUUUUST REMAIMBER LAAAAAST YEEEEEEAR

    From getachew44, on Sun 12 Apr 10:30PM

  18. todorovniki hahaha.. Am still laughing. Barca Will­ NEVER be beaten 5-0 by LIVERPOOL. hahaha
    OMG.. Am­ still Laughing.. And your badluck wishes to barca aint­ gonna stop me from Laughing, This smile Barca put on my­ face... NOTHING CAN REMOVE IT.­ hahahahahaha
    HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

    From TITUS N, on Sun 12 Apr 9:40PM

  19. i want madrid to get stronger so it would be even­ sweater when barca crush them in their next meetings

    From emilio, on Sun 12 Apr 9:15PM

  20. Keep laughing TITUS!
    There's still a game at­ Bernabeu your catalan Pigs are never gonna win!
    And­ remember who comes after Bayern...
    Chelsea isn't­ gonna be a pushover like you think!
    The best team in­ the world as you call it has not won anything in the­ past two years and the higher you get is the higher you­ fall...
    I wish Barca had to play Espanyol one more time­ this season to remind you of how strange football can­ be...
    Bilbao will do just that on the Cup final... You­ just get ready for a couple of months crying...
    The fun­ has just begun!

    From Nikolay, on Sun 12 Apr 9:10PM
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