Real Madrid beat Getafe 4-2 to take an early two-point advantage over Barcelona at the top of the Spanish league on Saturday, after the Catalan side dropped points drawing 2-2 away to Real Sociedad. After a difficult start for La Liga season with a players strike and disputes over new kick off times and TV and radio revenues, football finally took center stage again.
In an exciting line up of games on Saturday, Valencia beat Atletico Madrid 1-0 to join Real Madrid at the top after two matches while Villarreal and Sevilla drew 2-2 in El Madrigal.
For Madrid, two goals for Karim Benzema, a Cristiano Ronaldo penalty and a late strike by substitute Gonzalo Higuain edged out a battling Getafe, for whom Miku scored twice.
Madrid were fortunate when Ronaldo put them 2-1 ahead with a penalty on 60 minutes, after he appeared to be tripped by Cata Diaz outside the penalty area. However, it was the performance of a rejuvenated Benzema that Madrid fans will take from this derby match.
The French international put Madrid ahead on 13 minutes with a well placed right footed shot from the edge of the area and converted a superb cross field pass from Ronaldo on 69 minutes to make the score 3-1.
Miku had leveled at 1-1 for Getafe before half time and pulled a goal back for the team from the south of Madrid on 73 minutes, before Higuain wrapped the game up with three minutes remaining.
The victory was important for Madrid in a season that is almost certain to become a head to head battle with Barcelona.
Earlier, a promising Real Sociedad side matched Barcelona in San Sebastian to earn a 2-2 draw in an exciting game. The home team pegged back a two-goal deficit to share the points and provide the first challenge of the season to Barcelona’s domination of La Liga. Barca seemed to have the game wrapped up with two early goals within a minute from Xavi Hernandez and Cesc Fabregas. However, a sterling second-half performance saw Sociedad level with headers on 57 and 59 minutes from Imanol Agirretxe and Antoine Griezmann.
Roberto Soldado’s 52nd minute header won a tight game for Valencia over Atletico Madrid, to give them two wins from two and put them level at the top with Madrid. For Soldado, it helped push his claim for a return to the full Spanish national team and put him level with Ronaldo as La Liga’s top scorer, with four goals.
Earlier on Saturday, Villarreal put up a brave performance, after losing goalkeeper Diego Lopez to a first-half red card, to draw 2-2 with Sevilla. After first-half penalties for both sides were converted by Giuseppi Rossi and Alvaro Negredo,
Villarreal substitute Marco Ruben put the home team ahead on 72 minutes, before Alexis Ruano earned Sevilla a point with five minutes remaining.
The pressure was already on Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso before their 2-1 defeat to Manchester City on Wednesday in the UEFA Champions League raised further questions about his future. Arsenal remain perfect in this season’s competition and three points clear at the top of the standings after a 3-0 win against Club Brugge, while defending champions Paris Saint-Germain were held 0-0 at Athletic Bilbao. The clash between Madrid and City was the standout game of the round amid reports this week that Alonso had lost control of the locker room. Speculation over his position is likely to intensify after the latest
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