La Liga - Higuain gives Real thrilling victory

Eurosport - Wed, 22 Apr 09:02:00 2009

A stunning stoppage time strike by Gonzalo Higuain helped Real Madrid stage a stunning comeback to beat local rivals Getafe 3-2 in a breathtaking La Liga derby.

FOOTBALL La Liga 2008-2009 Pipa Gonzalo Higuaín Real Madrid-Getafe / Foto EFE - 0

Getafe twice took the lead - through former Real striker Roberto Soldado and Juan Angle Albín - and missed a penalty before Madrid staged a late comeback to win the game with a Guti free kick and Higuain's second of the night.

With league leaders Barcelona not playing Sevilla until Wednesday night, Madrid had the chance to cut the gap at the top of the league to three points.

Juande Ramos' side looked sluggish in the opening stages and could not get on the ball as the slick passing by Getafe gave them the upper hand early on.

Manu was causing problems for Madrid down the left flank and created the first chance for the visitors when he beat Pepe to swing in a cross but Soldado fired over.

The former Madrid frontman made up for that miss on 10 minutes when he headed Getafe into the lead.

Another former Bernabeu star - Esteban Granero - picked out Soldado in the middle of the penalty area, and he was able to head home past Iker Casillas unchallenged.

Getafe continued to press forward and should have doubled the lead midway through the first half when Jaime Gavilan played a perfectly weighted ball into the path of Soldado - but he fired into the side netting.

Madrid did not have their first chance on goal until the half hour mark when Klaas-Jan Huntelaar fired wide from a Raul knock down.

But Madrid did get back into the game on the stroke of half time when Fernando Gago's powerful header was flicked on by Raul into the path of Higuain who bundled the ball past Vladimir Stojkovic.

Ramos introduced Arjen Robben in the second half and he immediately injected some pace into the Madrid side - but his cameo lasted just 17 minutes as he was taken off with a muscle injury.

But Madrid were looking a far better side in the second half and should have taken the lead on 72 minutes when Guti played a brilliant ball through to Huntelaar who tried to take the ball round Stojkovic, but the Getafe keeper just managed to get a hand to it.

A minute later Soldado should have scored another header - but could not keep his effort from going over the bar.

In the final ten minutes the game took another twist. Juan Angle Albín fired Getafe into the lead with a brilliant strike from the edge of the area to give the visitors the lead.

But the game was level almost straight away when Guti fired in a brilliant free-kick, his curling effort gave Stojkovic no chance.

But from the kick-off Getafe when up the other end and won a penalty. A moment of madness from Pepe who pushed Francisco Casquero over in the box and then kicked him on the ground.

Pepe - who had already been booked - was shown a straight red card and looked to have thrown Real's title chances away.

Casquero picked himself up to take the spot kick but he will wish he hadn't as he chipped it without any power into the hands of Casillas.

In one final attack in the dying seconds of stoppage time the ball fell to Higuain, who fired a left footed thunderbolt into the top corner to win the game for Madrid.

It was a stunning strike to end a breathtaking game and the result piles the pressure on Barcelona to take maximum points against Sevilla.

James Andrew / Eurosport

Comment 17 - 36 of 36

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  1. Pepe should be banned for life for what he did. First­ he caused a clear penalty, that was a push. Second, he­ goes and kicks the player 2 times on the back, and­ third he slaps another getafe player and punches­ another getafe player. Check for yourself, go to­ youtube and search the title ANIMAL PEPE AGRESION­ CASQUERO REAL MADRID GETAFE, and you will see exactly­ what happened.

    From barca_nr_1, on Thu 23 Apr 6:11PM

  2. Pepe should be banned for life for what he did. First­ he caused a clear penalty, that was a push. Second, he­ goes and kicks the player 2 times on the back, and­ third he slaps another getafe player and punches­ another getafe player. Check for yourself, go to­ youtube and search the title ANIMAL PEPE AGRESION­ CASQUERO REAL MADRID GETAFE, and you will see exactly­ what happened.

    From barca_nr_1, on Thu 23 Apr 6:11PM

  3. Calling such games " Fixed" just goes to­ prove that Idiots are still watching football !!

    From MotazH, on Thu 23 Apr 11:04AM

  4. Fixed Game??
    Ha ha ha...
    Of course...
    They didn't­ even celebrate their secong goal...
    And yes their­ keeper just let Guti and Higuain score two simple­ goals...
    Of course.... So obvious..
    LMAO

    From Nikolay, on Wed 22 Apr 7:52PM

  5. richard o. i support barca but lets be logical. soldado­ didn't celebrate the goal because it was scored­ against his former club. as for the penalty i dont want­ to believe it was fixed albeit it was awful

    From Varnavas P, on Wed 22 Apr 7:04PM

  6. Richard O.
    I share your question too! That was a fixed­ match and Getafe does not even make much of a hell out­ of it (the strange defeat). They got money for it.­ Madrid wins by cheating, just because they don't­ want Barca to rival them and also because money is all­ what they are after. Shame to such losers and their­ naive blind supporters.

    From owen, on Wed 22 Apr 5:03PM

  7. Somehow, I stronly believe the Real Madrid and Getafe­ match was nothing but a FIXED and a PRE-ARRANGED match.­ The first goal scored by Soldado was not celebrated by­ him(I doubt if he wouldn't celebrate this goal had­ it been he scored the goal against Barcelona last week)­ and then come the poor penalty by Casquero. How earth­ should a player plays such a ridiculous penalty?­ Convince me why this match wasn't pre-arranged and­ fixed!!!

    From Richard O, on Wed 22 Apr 4:11PM

  8. pepe what a sc'um...he should at least be banned­ for 5 matches but i wont b suprised if they clear him­ before the clasico...not that i care though because­ elbarca will win la liga anyways...but i gotta give it­ to franco's troop... they really fought out there­ and in higuain they have a v promising­ striker...congratulations but dont get ur hopes up bcoz­ elbarca will restore the 6 pnts lead 2night...VISCA­ ELBARCA

    From Abby, on Wed 22 Apr 12:06PM

  9. With or without PEPE Barca will be trashed!!!
    I liked­ what PEPE did!
    At least that way the penalty was­ deserved lol

    From Nikolay, on Wed 22 Apr 9:18AM

  10. i'm a barca fan and i never said barcelona is a­ biggest club than madrid. madrid has the biggest­ history in europe at least. i hate them as a barca fan­ but i also respect them for the history they have­ behind them. #11 i dont believe that penalty yesterday­ was fake but barca fans suffered a lot 3 decades before­ at the hands of the police and the pricne and they have­ all the right to complain. great game anyway. getafe­ just commited suicide though

    From Varnavas P, on Wed 22 Apr 9:17AM

  11. Go shoot yourself Hasan!
    WE ARE THE­ CHAMPIONS!!!

    Congratulations Madridistas!
    What a­ lovely game that was!!!

    From Nikolay, on Wed 22 Apr 9:17AM

  12. Doubt it!

    From doubt.it.man, on Wed 22 Apr 8:55AM

  13. Madrid are playing like a @#$% and i wonder how are­ they winning!!! i am sure that they have have cashed­ getafe at this game to win , even Pepe act and the­ penalty i was sure that something will happen at the­ end and they will win. Besides Players like Pepe &­ Marcelo must be kicked out from the world football they­ made me vomit yesterday.

    From hasan a, on Wed 22 Apr 8:16AM

  14. Spanish Liga stinks because of things like this.­ Spanish football is decaying more and more.

    Casquero,­ eres un autentico "comemierda", tu solito has­ mandado al Getafe a Segunda, so gilipollas, y has­ escrito una nueva pagina negra en la historia de la­ Liga, por permitir al Madrid mearse nuevamente en los­ equipos modestos del futbol español.

    Retirate,­ Casquero, ya has hecho lo que tenias que hacer,­ mamaostias.

    Viva el Betis Libre. Lopera a la carcel­ ya.

    From wotyagaveme, on Wed 22 Apr 7:57AM

  15. Real dont allow to Play PEPE anymore on LA Liga­ ...Because Real is in critical stage.. But he dont care­ any more.. The Person who dont care about his team..­ Must be out Team.. Is it Coorect..??

    From Anwar A, on Wed 22 Apr 7:43AM

  16. Pepe should be given minimum of six months match ban­ for his intentional act .He is a disgrace to spanish­ league .

    From kennethagbo48, on Wed 22 Apr 6:56AM

  17. great comeback from one of the best football teams ever

    From kutambura, on Wed 22 Apr 5:08AM

  18. Iron man Pepe. the susesor of mike tyson

    From angelnegro88, on Wed 22 Apr 3:09AM
  19. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    fu ck you all! manchester united is the best! i saw­ some nude pictures of pepe and sergio ramos together in­ a bath tub! check it out!

    From christian, on Wed 22 Apr 2:52AM
  20. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Hello, fans!I'm an open minded girl from UK. I like­ this team very much.
    I have a blog on -–SeekingTall C­ o M-- I like to share the funny­ things of the team­ with other fans,esp handsome guys~~

    From greenkate49, on Wed 22 Apr 2:36AM
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