Real Madrid moved to the La Liga summit with a flattering 3-0 home win over Espanyol at the Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday with Gonzalo Higuain and Karim Benzema netting their first goals of the season after Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring. The win means Real maintain their 100 percent home record under coach Jose Mourinho and move one point above Valencia at the top.
Ronaldo got the opener on 28 minutes converting a fortunate penalty before Argentine Higuain scored his first goal of the campaign 11 minutes from time.
With three minutes left, substitute Benzema bagged his first league goal just six minutes after coming on. It was a heated game in which both sides had players sent off with Real defender Pepe sent off on the hour mark before Espanyol had defender Ernesto Galan dismissed three minutes later for crunching Ronaldo.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Espanyol were reduced to nine men when defender Juan Forlin was sent off in the closing minutes for complaining about Benzema’s goal.
Mourinho brought in Frenchman Lass Diarra for Sami Khedira in defensive midfield, but stuck by his 4-2-3-1 system with two holding midfielders, Mesut Ozil as playmaker and the speedy Ronaldo and Angel di Maria supplying Higuain.
It was visitors Espanyol who had the first chance after six minutes with Jose Callejon drilling a left-footed volley narrowly wide of the post.
A minute later Espanyol’s Carlos Kameni pulled off a terrific save to thwart Di Maria pushing the Argentine’s shot over the bar.
Espanyol were holding their own with some slick passing, but came unstuck in the 28th minute in an unfortunate incident.
Ronaldo smashed a free-kick into the Espanyol wall and the referee pointed to the penalty spot with Luis Garcia penalized for blocking the shot with his hand.
It was harsh on Espanyol with Garcia unable to get out of the way of Ronaldo’s fierce drive and the striker was harshly booked for his action.
Ronaldo slotted the spot-kick home to Kameni’s left, but was forced to retake the penalty after stopping his run up midway through the action.
The Portuguese star put the retake in exactly the same spot with Kameni diving the wrong way again.
Real were more comfortable in the second half, but suffered a setback on the hour when Pepe collected a second yellow for fouling Callejon.
Mourinho was pondering playing with one man less, but three minutes later the numbers were evened up when Galan was shown a straight red card for a late challenge on Ronaldo.
Espanyol players were furious with the decision, but rolled up their sleeves to give Real some hairy moments as they held a slender one-goal advantage.
Higuain put the game to bed on 79 minutes accepting a Ronaldo pass before slotting past Kameni with his left foot and Benezema completed the scoring.
Earlier Athletic Bilbao registered their first home league win at San Mames defeating Real Mallorca 3-0 on Tuesday to go fourth in the Spanish top-flight.
Bilbao lie three points behind leaders Real, and their next match is at home to champions Barcelona on Saturday night.
In other matches, Osasuna produced their first league win of the season with a 3-1 home triumph over promoted Real Sociedad on Tuesday.
Barcelona were to go in search of their first league home win of the campaign yesterday hosting Sporting Gijon at Camp Nou.
The defending champions, lying in seventh, will be without star man Messi for the next two league matches because of his ankle injury, however, the Argentine could be back for the Champions League match at Rubin Kazan next Wednesday.
DOMINATION: McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris took the first two spots as Mercedes’ George Russell and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen followed them Australian Oscar Piastri yesterday roared back from season-opening disappointment in his home race by winning the Formula One Chinese Grand Prix from pole position in a McLaren one-two with championship-leading teammate Lando Norris. George Russell finished third for Mercedes, ahead of Red Bull’s reigning champion Max Verstappen with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Saturday’s sprint winner Lewis Hamilton fifth and sixth respectively. Piastri’s win denied Norris a third victory in a row, including last year’s Abu Dhabi season-ender, but left champions McLaren unbeaten in two races so far this year. “Mega job guys. The car was very, very lovely,” Piastri said
TO FINAL FOUR: France had 22 chances and scored two goals, while Croatia could not manage a single shot on target in 120 minutes. Les Bleus won 5-4 on penalties France on Sunday overturned a two-goal deficit to qualify for the UEFA Nations League Final Four by eliminating Croatia 5-4 on penalties after a 2-0 victory in their quarter-final second leg at the Stade de France. Dayot Upamecano scored the winning spot kick in a nail-biting shootout in which France keeper Mike Maignan made two saves, sending Les Bleus into the semi-finals against Spain. Michael Olise opened the scoring and Ousmane Dembele doubled their lead 10 minutes from time to send the tie into extra time after their 2-0 loss in Split, Croatia, on Thursday. France had a total of
BRING THE NOISE: Brazil’s Fonseca attracted a boisterous crowd that brought such dominant soccer-style energy the referee switched to Portuguese to ask for quiet Australia’s Alex de Minaur on Monday put an end to Brazilian talent Joao Fonseca’s challenge at the Miami Open, outlasting the 18-year-old 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 in an enthralling contest. Attendance on stadium court had been sparse throughout the day, but the Hard Rock Stadium turned into a mini-Maracana Stadium for Fonseca’s match, complete with Brazilian flags and soccer-style chanting. Fonseca brought his energetic brand of ultra-attacking tennis, but De Minaur was up to the challenge, coping with blistering forehands and a partisan crowd. Such was the dominance of Fonseca’s raucous support that the referee switched to Portuguese for his appeals for quiet. However, De
The Chicago Bulls on Saturday stunned the Los Angeles Lakers 146-115, spoiling superstar LeBron James’ return from a two-week absence with a groin injury. The NBA’s all-time leading scorer James delivered 17 points, six rebounds and four assists in 31 minutes on court. Luka Doncic, back in action after resting a sore ankle, drilled eight three-pointers on the way to a team-high 34 points, but he ran out of steam in the second half, and no one else stepped up. Austin Reaves, who had also missed action with ankle trouble, scored 25 points. Rui Hachimura, playing limited minutes after missing
RSS