La Liga - Round-up: Double delight for Ronaldo

Eurosport - Mon, 21 Sep 12:02:00 2009

Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice to inspire Real Madrid to a crushing 5-0 win over Liga new boys Xerez at the Bernabeu.

Cristiano Ronaldo celebrate v Xerez - 0

The Portuguese winger netted the opener inside the opening minute with a searing run and shot and Xerez, in their first top-flight campaign, must have feared the worst.

But the floodgates remained stubbornly closed until the last 15 minutes when Ronaldo, Guti, Karim Benzema and Ruud van Nistelrooy netted in quick succession to settle a restless home crowd.

"We didn't play well as a team but I am pleased with the final result," Real coach Manuel Pellegrini said.

Real moved ahead of champions Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao on goal difference at the top of the standings with three wins from three.

Barca hammered Atletico Madrid 5-2 on Saturday and Bilbao were 3-2 winners over Villarreal earlier on Sunday.

Real Madrid appeared to ease off after Ronaldo's early strike at the Bernabeu and Xerez steadily grew in confidence.

Emilio Viqueira skimmed Iker Casillas's crossbar with a free-kick and Xerez's travelling fans cheered 'ole' as the visitors were given time and space to move the ball around, though they lacked the quality to really threaten.

Pellegrini brought midfielders Guti and Esteban Granero off his bench midway through the second half and they helped turn the game.

Ronaldo bagged the second, rising to head in from a corner in the 75th minute and Guti volleyed a third soon after.

Benzema lashed a spectacular fourth on a breakaway before substitute Van Nistelrooy slid the ball between Renan's legs for the fifth.

Spain striker Fernando Llorente nodded in Bilbao's opener and fired in a second off the post before the break at San Mames.

He was only denied a hat-trick by acrobatic saves from Diego Lopez in the visitors' goal.

Cani pulled one back for Villarreal early in the second period and after Javi Martinez had restored the home side's advantage with a header from a corner, Santi Cazorla netted a fine free-kick near the end.

David Villa had scored twice to set Valencia on course for their third straight win, after coming from behind to lead 2-1 at home against Sporting Gijon.

But the visitors, who had been down to 10 men from the 25th minute following Michel's red card, snatched a late goal through Gregory Arnol, who headed in at a free-kick after some poor goalkeeping from Miguel Angel Moya.

Elsewhere, Almeria beat Getafe 1-0 and Real Zaragoza slumped to a 2-1 home defeat by Real Valladolid.

Reuters

Comment 1 - 17 of 17

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  1. Ps.: Xerez was just promoted from the Spanish SECOND­ Division . That probably explains Ronaldo's sudden­ scoring explosion . He did the same thing in the EPL­ when Manchester United faced some of the many mediocre­ bottom of the table opponents !!

    From Tim, on Tue 22 Sep 12:03PM

  2. That's very wise 15. I dont have a problem with­ barca. As a Madrid fan am happy for their succes last­ season no hard feelings.
    I remember the 2004/2005­ season when all madridistas stood up for Ronaldinho in­ the 3 - 0 win at bernabeu.

    But i do have a problem­ with the fans who have not respect for the club and­ themselves. I am happy cos. if this indonoob or­ whatever gets in trouble for barca's sake barca­ wont come to his aid.

    Promote your club in a positive­ way and not cause trouble. Barca fans making negative­ comments got no brain. Madrid is not at war with barca.­ For the good of the game!

    From humpheryigbadumhe, on Tue 22 Sep 2:05AM

  3. @5: Someone who says that Real Madrid´s Champions­ League group is the weakest of the competition only­ proves that knows nothing about football. Real Madrid,­ AC Milan, Olympic Marseille... are famous names of­ football teams. That´s your first lesson. You´ll need­ quite a lot more to say you´ve got some­ knowlegde.

    @Idiotnoob: I find your­ "Barça-is-angelic,-Madrid-is-evil" quest­ pathetic. Madrid is heterogenous, as Barcelona is.­ Don´t talk of Madrid like the whole city was a group of­ ill fascist that are torturing the poor catalonians­ because is an stupid maniqueism.
    Look at me: I won´t­ do that. I´m saying that YOU are a moron. As you see,­ I´m talking only about you. Not about your­ nationalistic friends or your parents that if only had­ used a condom the day of your conception, they would­ have save us of reading your bothering whingeing. Take­ a note.

    From ryuugosan, on Mon 21 Sep 4:10PM

  4. Kedves Csaba es (kulonosen), hat szabad ilyen csunyan­ beszelni?

    From Tamas, on Mon 21 Sep 12:25PM

  5. in the name of everyone here let me give INDONOOB abig­ fat warm fu.ck you. this aint a public square you idiot­ nobody cares about your stupid s.hit + no one bothers­ to read such a fu.ck.in long comment + your probably a­ barca fan so i'll give you another FU.CK YOU for­ that

    From Isti, on Mon 21 Sep 11:14AM

  6. We don't care about your random folklore. And­ don't send it in 2 times it won't become more­ credible.

    From Csaba, on Mon 21 Sep 10:47AM

  7. The manner in which Barcelona attempted to maintain a­ Catalan identity at a time when the language and flag­ were banned is well recounted. Barça became 'More­ than a Club' and the phrase Así gana el Madrid –­ that's how Madrid win – became part of Spanish­ sporting lore. There are two of these stories, however,­ that perhaps shed most light on the situation in those­ difficult times. In 1942, Barcelona had won the Spanish­ Cup – now known as the Cope del Rey but then renamed as­ the Copa del Generalísimo. The following season they­ were pitted against Real in a two-legged semi-final and­ won the first match convincingly, by three goals to­ nil, despite having their star player, Escolá,­ stretchered off. The second leg, though, was rather a­ different matter – finishing an astonishing 11 - 1 to­ Madrid. Not only was the Head of State Security known­ to have visited the Barça dressing room before the­ match to tell some of the players that their right to­ remain in Spain was being reviewed, but also the­ sending off of a player in the first few minutes made­ sure that the rest of the team got the right message!­ The other classic example of the manner in which­ Barcelona feel they suffered during the Franco years­ concerns perhaps the most famous player ever to wear a­ Real Madrid shirt – Alfredo di Stéfano, who remains an­ iconic figure in the Madrid hierarchy even today. In­ 1953, the Argentinian centre forward, described by­ Bobby Charlton as the most intelligent player he had­ seen, was signed by Barcelona from his Columbian club,­ Millonarios. After di Stéfano had appeared in a couple­ of friendly matches, and after an involved and­ underhand series of 'negotiations', the Spanish­ F.A. declared that the transfer was invalid and the­ player was triumphantly unveiled by Madrid.

    This is­ who real madrid is, this is who franco was, and franco­ is the reason madrid won the trophies. Di Stefano who­ franco got for madrid, won the first 5 CL trophies for­ madrid.

    From indonoob, on Mon 21 Sep 1:58AM

  8. The manner in which Barcelona attempted to maintain a­ Catalan identity at a time when the language and flag­ were banned is well recounted. Barça became 'More­ than a Club' and the phrase Así gana el Madrid –­ that's how Madrid win – became part of Spanish­ sporting lore. There are two of these stories, however,­ that perhaps shed most light on the situation in those­ difficult times. In 1942, Barcelona had won the Spanish­ Cup – now known as the Cope del Rey but then renamed as­ the Copa del Generalísimo. The following season they­ were pitted against Real in a two-legged semi-final and­ won the first match convincingly, by three goals to­ nil, despite having their star player, Escolá,­ stretchered off. The second leg, though, was rather a­ different matter – finishing an astonishing 11 - 1 to­ Madrid. Not only was the Head of State Security known­ to have visited the Barça dressing room before the­ match to tell some of the players that their right to­ remain in Spain was being reviewed, but also the­ sending off of a player in the first few minutes made­ sure that the rest of the team got the right message!­ The other classic example of the manner in which­ Barcelona feel they suffered during the Franco years­ concerns perhaps the most famous player ever to wear a­ Real Madrid shirt – Alfredo di Stéfano, who remains an­ iconic figure in the Madrid hierarchy even today. In­ 1953, the Argentinian centre forward, described by­ Bobby Charlton as the most intelligent player he had­ seen, was signed by Barcelona from his Columbian club,­ Millonarios. After di Stéfano had appeared in a couple­ of friendly matches, and after an involved and­ underhand series of 'negotiations', the Spanish­ F.A. declared that the transfer was invalid and the­ player was triumphantly unveiled by Madrid.

    This is­ who real madrid is, this is who franco was, and franco­ is the reason madrid won the trophies. Di Stefano who­ franco got for madrid, won the first 5 CL trophies for­ madrid.

    From indonoob, on Mon 21 Sep 1:57AM

  9. they will though on wednesday they­ play away agains­ villarreal, its a very tough match.

    Well, not quite.­ Villa has been below average as well. First real­ challenge will be against Sevilla 4 oct

    From qqtba, on Mon 21 Sep 1:32AM

  10. Real wont win La Liga or the champions league this­ year. Barcelona will win La Liga and it will be between­ them and Chelsea for the champions league.
    So dont get­ your hopes up Real fans. Its not going to happen

    From Dean O, on Mon 21 Sep 1:22AM

  11. real are not in the worst group of the champions­ league, but its true that they still havent faced a­ real challenge. they will though on wednesday, they­ play away against villarreal, its a very tough match

    From arthorius16, on Mon 21 Sep 1:09AM

  12. CR9 is a champion he'll do more better than this as­ the season progress........at this moment no one is­ capable of compete him.

    From bon_aks, on Mon 21 Sep 1:04AM

  13. well they are in the weakest group in CL and have made­ good results against bottom-tipped teams in la liga..­ barca has looked much stronger so far.

    From Jitna, on Sun 20 Sep 11:30PM
  14. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    though real madrid won again against poor teams like­ Zurich & Xeres !!! but only time will prove that­ they will flop with little bigger team . Madid shown­ realy lots of week points!!! ronaldo was realy lucky­ with his goals i think the keepers he faced were­ disastrous !!!1

    From hasan a, on Sun 20 Sep 10:39PM

  15. VAMOS RONALDO!!

    From Vítor, on Sun 20 Sep 10:35PM

  16. hala madrid la liga champions 2009-2010 (hope so at­ least i cant read the future)

    From brandonmalta, on Sun 20 Sep 10:04PM

  17. REAL MADRID FOR LIFE!!!

    From andreyoreshkin, on Sun 20 Sep 5:29PM
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