Sunday December 16, 2012 Day 16 Finished Bernabéu
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Liga - Real Madrid lose further ground against Espanyol
Juan Albin stunned Real Madrid with a late equaliser as Espanyol grabbed a 2-2 draw at the Bernabeu. More
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Live Commentary
Time:90'- Real Madrid
- RCD Espanyol
- That is all from the Bernabeu but make sure you join us for live commentary of Barcelona and Atletico Madrid which is set to kick off in a matter of minutes.
- Madrid came out fighting after half time, managing to get themselves into the lead. However, they took their foot off the gas as the game went on and Espanyol punished them at the death. A great point for the visitors.
- 90+4' And there goes full time as whistles and boos ring out around the Bernabeu.
- 90+4' Morata was nearly in on goal but his touch let him down.
- 90+4' Casilla does well to claim a cross again. He holds onto it for as long as he can.
- 90+3' They play it short and try and hold onto it by the corner flag though.
- 90+2' It is Espanyol who are attacking now and looking like finding a winner. They win a corner.
- 90+1' Alonso sends the corner in but Casilla claims it.
- 90' Four minutes of injury time to be played.
- 90' Ozil fires an effort at goal from the edge of the box but it deflects wide for the corner.
- 89' The Bernabeu is stunned.
88' An Espanyol corner comes in but Madrid are unable to clear it and eventually it falls to Albin who smashes it into the back of the net from close range.- 87' Colotto sends a ball into the box from the right. Garcia is there at the far post with a volley but it deflects wide.
- 86' Ronaldo has a shot from distance but Casilla is able to make a comfortable save.
- 85' Was that Espanyol's golden chance?
85' A real chance for Espanyol as Capdevila hits a volley over the bar from close range following a well-worked set piece from the visitors.- 83' Ronaldo takes the free kick but he hits it straight into the wall.
- 82' Simao gives away a free kick after a foul on Morata.
- 81' The tempo of this game has dropped significantly over the last 15 minutes or so.
80' Ronaldo goes into the book for a late challenge.- 79' Sanchez gets booked for a late tackle on Ramos following the earlier challenge.
- 78' Garcia plays a one-two with Sanchez before being dispossessed by Ramos. Top defending.
- 77' Ronaldo appears to catch Lopez with his arm. He did not like that.
- 75' Madrid really need another goal just to be on the safe side as Espanyol have definitely still got a goal in them themselves.
- 74' Ronaldo picks out Ozil with a great pass who then lays it across to Morata but his header is deflected over.
73' Alvaro Morata comes on for Callejon who has worked hard today.- 72' Coentrao picks out the run of Ozil with a superb cross-field pass. The German closes down on goal but his shot bounces just wide of the target.
- 71' Di Maria plays in Callejon on goal but the Madrid man is unable to get a proper connection on his shot. Wasteful.
- 70' Juan Albin comes on for Verdu. The midfielder was starting to tire a little.
- 70' Alonso goes into the book for a late challenge.
- 69' Ronaldo does brilliantly to beat Lopez before firing a cross from the right but nobody is there to meet it in the middle.
- 68' Madrid have started to lose a little of that edge that they had when they came out fighting at the beginning of the half.
- 67' Espanyol might want to think about gambling and getting a few men forward as Garcia is often isolated up front.
- 66' Garcia does well to force his way into the box for Espanyol before getting the cross in across goal but again nobody there is able to meet his delivery.
- 65' Ronaldo bears down on goal but play is stopped for offside.
- 64' The corner comes in but play is stopped for a foul given against Callejon.
- 64' Ronaldo forces his way down the left wing before crossing a ball into the box. Espanyol can only clear for the corner.
- 63' Ozil plays a lovely one-two with Di Maria befoe firing a shot at goal but Casilla gets down low to make the save.
- 62' Alonso sends in the free kick from deep but Espanyol head clear.
- 61' Alfonso goes into the book for a pull on Ronaldo's shirt.
- 59' Joan Capdevila comes on for Alvarez. Di Maria was starting to cause the full back real problems.
- 58' Di Maria has had a real impact on the game since his arrival.
- 57' Madrid clear the corner and break up the other end. Di Maria plays in Ronaldo but the Portuguese attempts the volley and miskicks it.
- 56' A chance for Espanyol as Verdu wins the corner.
- 55' Madrid have really upped their performance level since the restart.
- 55' Casilla makes another top save this time tipping a deflected Di Maria shot onto the bar.
- 54' Casilla is keeping his side in at the moment.
- 53' Callejon spots Di Maria in space on the left and picks him out with the pass. The Argentine closes down on goal but Casilla makes another good save to deny the Madrid man.
- 52' Garcia bursts down the left with a great run and sends a hanging ball across goal but nobody was there to attack it. Unlucky.
- 51' Arbeloa with a strike on the edge of the box after the ball rolls out to him but Casilla makes a top save to deny the full back.
- 50' What have Espanyol got in their locker? They will have to come forward more than just on the odd counter attack if they want a result now.
- 49' The perfect start to the half then for Madrid. That was just what they needed.
- 48' Ronaldo spots the run of Coentrao and picks him out in the box. The full back takes a touch before slotting it past Casilla. Lovely goal.
- 47' Di Maria does brilliantly to beat two defenders before whipping in a cross from the right but Espanyol head clear.
- 46' Angel Di Maria has come on for Modric. He must have picked up a knock as he was having a great game.
- 46' Espanyol get the second half underway...
- Madrid will be going into the dressing room a lot happier after that late equaliser but they still won't be too pleased with their peformance. They have seen all the possession but not created as many chances as they would have liked. Espanyol have defended well and been excellent on the counter attack.
45+2' And there goes the half-time whistle.- 45+2' Espanyol go up the other end and Garcia brings out a good save from Casillas.
- 45+1' Khedira sends in a cross from the right and picks out Ronaldo in the middle of the box who sticks his foot in with a volley leaving Casilla with no chance.
- 45+1' One minute of stoppage time to be played.
- 45' Casilla has done everything that has been asked of him so far. A confident display.
- 44' Coentrao comes forwad down the left and wins a corner but Casilla is there to punch Ozil's delivery away to safety.
- 43' Garcia is working his socks off for Espanyol up front. He has been a real outlet for the away side.
- 43' The resulting free kick is poor and Madrid clear with ease.
- 43' Garcia wins a free kick in a dangerous position after the foul from Ramos.
- 42' Pepe plays a ball from deep towards Callejon but the Madrid winger is unable to get on the end of it.
- 41' Ozil picks out Ronaldo with a fantastic defence-splitting pass but Casilla makes a great save to deny the Madrid man.
- 40' Madrid clear the corner but only as far as Garcia who shoots just over.
- 39' Garcia does well to chase down a long ball. He then cuts in from the left and plays in Alfonso who is soon closed down by Cassilas, conceding the corner.
- 38' Ozil looks for the run of Ronaldo but his pass is easily read and intercepted.
- 37' Madrid with 70% of the possession, which gives you an idea of how much of the ball Madrid have seen. No goals though...
- 36' There is a frosty atmosphere in the Bernabeu since that goal went in. It is only going to get worse if Madrid cannot find an equaliser soon.
- 35' Lopez closes down Khedira well on the edge of the box to bring an end to a Madrid attack.
- 34' Ozil sends in the corner but Casilla does well to come off his line and claim the ball.
- 33' While Espanyol have been up against it since the start of the game, they have always looked dangerous on the odd occasion that they have got forward.
- 32' Nobody saw that goal coming in the Bernabeu. What have Madrid got in response now?
- 31' Espanyol break with a quick counter attack as Verdu picks out Garcia with a lovely pass. The striker beats two men before finding the bottom corner of the net. Great goal.
- 30' Modric picks out the run of Callejon from deep but it bounces off the back of the winger's back. Unlucky. Great vision from the Croatian.
- 29' Christian Alfonso comes on for Wakaso. The Espanyol boss does not want to leave his midfielder on the pitch after his yellow card, feeling that he may otherwise soon pick up a second booking.
- 28' Ronaldo tries to tee up Ozil on the edge of the box but the pass is poor and Espanyol break down the other end through Wakaso. The move soon comes to an end, however.
- 27' Madrid starting to turn the screw a bit now...
- 26' Modric with a fantastic shot from distance that canons back off the post. Casilla was well beaten.
- 25' Ronaldo plays in Callejon but Moreno is there to stop the attack with a fine tackle.
- 24' Ozil does brilliantly to skip past a couple of defenders before finding Arbeloa on the right but the full back loses it and the move comes to an end.
- 23' Modric has a shot from distance but Moreno manages to block it. It nearly rebounds into the path of Callejon but the Madrid man was not quite expecting it.
- 22' The away side attack again. This time Verdu tries to play in Garcia but he gets the pass wrong.
- 21' Espanyol starting to show what a threat they can be on the counter attack.
- 20' Another attack for Espanyol as Garcia latches onto a ball over the top but Coentrao puts in a last-ditch challenge to clear the danger.
- 19' Ronaldo takes aim from distance only for Forlin to put in a great tackle.
- 18' Madrid will want an early goal as it will only get harder to open the scoring as the game goes on with the way Espanyol are defending so deep.
- 17' That was a fine pass from Verdu. He really cut open the Madrid defence.
- 16' A real chance for Espanyol as Verdu plays in Simao inside the box with an excellent pass but the winger can only drag his effort wide.
- 15' Pepe was lucky he was offside really as he should have scored otherwise.
- 14' Ozil picks out Pepe with great curling ball into the box but the unmarked defender can only head straight at Casilla. It does not matter though as he was in an offside position.
- 13' Wakaso goes into the book for a foul on Khedira after the Espanyol man gave away possession very cheaply.
- 12' Espanyol head clear Ozil's corner before Ronaldo concedes the foul on Alvarez.
- 12' Ozil picks out Ramos at the far post but his header deflects off for the corner.
- 11' Arbeloa goes down after a late challenge from Simao. Another free kick for Madrid.
- 10' Madrid probing Espanyol's defence before Arbeloa soons gifts possession to the opposition with a poor pass.
- 9' Espanyol have got 11 men back in their own half already. Could be a long night...
- 8' Ronaldo sends in the resulting free kick but Espanyol are able to scramble away the danger.
- 7' A lovely run from Coentrao down the left before Wakaso eventually brings him down for a free kick in a dangerous position.
- 6' Ronaldo goes to ground under pressure from an Espanyol challenge. The referee waves play on. The Madrid man is not happy.
- 6' Ronaldo tries to pick out the run of Callejon but he just overhits it and the Madrid man is unable to catch up with the ball.
- 5' It already feels like it is only a matter of time before Madrid break the deadlock.
- 4' Madrid go close again as Ronaldo picks out Modric in the box who then has a snap shot at goal but he fails to hit the target.
- 3' Espanyol have barely had a touch of the ball yet.
- 2' As you would expect Madrid are going for it straight from the off. Ronaldo picks up the ball from deep and has a long-range effort at goal that sails just wide of the post.
- 2' Modric and Ozil play a nice one-two before the Croatian gets put under pressure by three Espanyol players and concedes possession.
- 1' Real Madrid get the first half underway...
- 17:55 Real Madrid ran out 5-0 winners in this fixture last season. Two goals from Gonzalo Higuain were added to by Cristiano Ronaldo, Sami Khedira and Kaka.
- 17:50 A win will be a huge ask for Espanyol tonight considering they have not tasted victory at the Santiago Bernabeu since a 2-1 victory in the 1995-96 season. The Catalan club have also failed to score a single goal in their last six outings against Real Madrid.
- 17:45 With Barcelona and Atletico Madrid meeting later tonight, Real Madrid will be hoping to capitalise on at least one of their rivals dropping points with a win at the Santiago Bernabeu. Espanyol manager Javier Aguirre is still looking for his first win since taking over last month. Three points this evening would be enough to lift the club out of the relegation zone.
- 17:40 Real Madrid make two changes from the side that saw off Valladolid last week, with Fabio Coentrao coming in for Nacho and Luka Modric in for the injured Karim Benzema. It looks as though Cristiano Ronaldo will be playing up front. Espanyol, meanwhile, make three changes from the side that drew with Sevilla last week. Kiko Casilla, Simao and Sergio Garcia come in for Cristian Alvarez, Rui Fonte and Christian Stuani.
- 17:35 REAL MADRID: Casillas, Arbeloa, Pepe, Ramos, Coentrao, Khedira, Alonso, Ozil, Modric, Callejon, Cristiano Ronaldo... Subs: Adan, Kaka, Carvalho, Essien, Di Maria, Nacho, Morata /// ESPANYOL: Casilla, Lopez, Colotto, Moreno, Victor Alvarez, Forlin, Sanchez, Sergio Garcia, Verdu, Simao, Wakaso... Subs: Capdevila, Albin, Stuani, Baena, Rodriguez, Alfonso, Parreno.
- 17:30 Hello there and welcome to our LIVE coverage of tonight's La Liga clash between Real Madrid and RCD Espanyol.
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Summary
- 88' An Espanyol corner comes in but Madrid are unable to clear it and eventually it falls to Albin who smashes it into the back of the net from close range.
- 85' A real chance for Espanyol as Capdevila hits a volley over the bar from close range following a well-worked set piece from the visitors.
- 74' Ronaldo picks out Ozil with a great pass who then lays it across to Morata but his header is deflected over.
- 72' Coentrao picks out the run of Ozil with a superb cross-field pass. The German closes down on goal but his shot bounces just wide of the target.
- 63' Ozil plays a lovely one-two with Di Maria befoe firing a shot at goal but Casilla gets down low to make the save.
- 55' Casilla makes another top save this time tipping a deflected Di Maria shot onto the bar.
- 53' Callejon spots Di Maria in space on the left and picks him out with the pass. The Argentine closes down on goal but Casilla makes another good save to deny the Madrid man.
- 51' Arbeloa with a strike on the edge of the box after the ball rolls out to him but Casilla makes a top save to deny the full back.
- 48' Ronaldo spots the run of Coentrao and picks him out in the box. The full back takes a touch before slotting it past Casilla. Lovely goal.
- 45+1' Khedira sends in a cross from the right and picks out Ronaldo in the middle of the box who sticks his foot in with a volley leaving Casilla with no chance.
- 41' Ozil picks out Ronaldo with a fantastic defence-splitting pass but Casilla makes a great save to deny the Madrid man.
- 31' Espanyol break with a quick counter attack as Verdu picks out Garcia with a lovely pass. The striker beats two men before finding the bottom corner of the net. Great goal.
- 26' Modric with a fantastic shot from distance that canons back off the post. Casilla was well beaten.
- 16' A real chance for Espanyol as Verdu plays in Simao inside the box with an excellent pass but the winger can only drag his effort wide.
- 4' Madrid go close again as Ronaldo picks out Modric in the box who then has a snap shot at goal but he fails to hit the target.
- 2' As you would expect Madrid are going for it straight from the off. Ronaldo picks up the ball from deep and has a long-range effort at goal that sails just wide of the post.
Team Line-up & Ratings
Real MadridManager: José Mourinho
RCD EspanyolManager: Javier Aguirre
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Line-up
Live Team Line-Up
Starting line-up
- I. Casillas
- Á. Arbeloa
- Pepe
- S. Ramos
- F. Coentrão
- S. Khedira
- X. Alonso
- J. Callejón
- L. Modric
- M. Özil
- Cristiano Ronaldo
Subs
- R. Carvalho
- M. Essien
- Kaká
- &. Di María
45′ - A. Adán
- &. Morata 73′
- Nacho
Starting line-up
- K. Casilla
- J. López
- D. Colotto
- H. Moreno
- V. Álvarez
- J. Forlín
- V. Sánchez
- Wakaso
- J. Verdú
- Simão
- Sergio Garciá
Subs
- J. Capdevila 59′
- J. Albin 70′
- C. Stuani
- R. Baena
- R. Rodríguez
- C. Alfonso 29′
- G. Parreno
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Rate Players
Real Madrid without : Ozil & Khedira = 0 !!!!!!!
Mourinho doesnt know where his strenght lies. His problem has been in the midfield. This time he got it right from the start: modric ozil and callejon, then he broke it when he brought in di maria for modric. Possession plummeted from 70% to about 50%. Scoring chances dried up and the team went in disarray. Shame on you JM for featuring wasteful di maria.
only Luka can save them, but mou must leave and real needs to learn how to play football, they are all to selfish and they dont know to do ten nice, small pases in a row. Shity team and a worst play i seen in a while. Ozil and Modric must be on the pitch simultaneously because they are the only ones who knows to play a real football; as xabi is getting old.
bookies happy again
Why does the picture used to headline this game contain Kaka, and Benzema (I think), when neither of them played...
Nothing against Mou but the plonker is losing is plot and his team choices are a lot of #$%$
why would mourinho substitute morata for modric when laka is available...a former world player of the year who has been performing this season when given the chance, but rarely used????...even if they feel they have not reaped the rewards of their investment in kaka in terms of on field performance since he arrived, they should be. using him more often, to make sure it does indeed make sense to offload him, if that is their plan, which seems to be heading that way....now kaka, good luck with wherever you end up...you deserve much better treatment than this!
Abdulbasi sulaiman is that the name of your camel pal or are you just happy to see me.
Are you enjoyig yourself Luka Modric...Got a bit big for your boots at Spurs,so here is the reality
barcelona's title to lose now
Bye bye Booobinho you wont last long in Madrid
Hala madrid, OOOOps, I meant : HA HA HA madrid !!!!
Ronaldo played selfish (well nothing new). Madshit another 2 points wasted lol
Mourinho come back home!! CHELSEA FC needs you!!
Rm loses 3:2
Mourinho wants the Manchester United Job and Madrid will fire him
oh madrid. u suck
NICE CRISTIANO RONALDO TRY AGAIN
Espanyol are poor but so are Madrid. Anyone's game methinks. Still, tonight we also have the Mighty Barca against the Mighty Madrid. lol!!!
lady cristina doesn't cry tonight, why?
