Hat-trick Hero / Image via dailymail.co.uk
Cristiano Ronaldo took the match-ball home with him on Saturday night at Vicente Calderon as he ended up singlehandedly guiding his team to the impressive 3-0 victory over Atletico Madrid.
Ronaldo’s hat-trick allowed Los Rojiblancos to reaffirm their top spot in the La Liga standings and extend the gap in front of second-placed Barcelona who were held to a goalless home stalemate by the nine-man Malaga.
Our in-depth match report is right here for all of those who might have missed the action-packed derby match at Vicente Calderon:
Team News & Form Guide
Two sides had contrasting fortunes heading into the Madrid derby as far as the selection options were concerned.
Diego Simeone received some encouraging news with Antonine Griezmann shaking off his foot injury to claim his place upfront. On the other hand, Zinedine Zidane had a huge selection headache with Toni Kroos, Casemiro and Alvaro Morata all ruled out of the match. Unfit Karim Benzema started from the bench together with captain Sergio Ramos while it was Cristiano Ronaldo who lead the line in attack.
Temporary form rarely plays important part when Madrid rivals go head to head.
Atletico Madrid came off from a 2-0 Real Sociedad defeat, while Los Blancos did well to extend the impressive 20-match unbeaten run in all competition with a comprehensive 3-0 triumph over Leganes just before the international break.
First Half
The visiting side started the highly-anticipated match on the front foot, pushing hard toward Oblak’s goal and coming close to scoring after only twelve minutes in the game through through Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese nodded a cross from the side but there was not enough power behing the drive to catch Jan Oblak off guard.
Less than ten minutes later Real Madrid attempted to break the deadlock once more with Luka Modric who wasted a promising opportunity from the edge of the box. Jan Oblak displayed some world-class goalkeeping to thwart the ball that would have surely ended in inside the bottom right corner of his goal.
The big break occurred only two minutes later when Cristiano Ronaldo fired what appeared to be an insufficiently powerful free-kick. The ball flicked off Raphael Varane who was standing in the wall leaving Jan Oblak on the wrong foot to spins somewhat carelessly in the back of the net.
Real Madrid were pretty much in the driving seat at the halfway stage of the Saturday’s Madrid derby, leaving Atletico Madrid trailing largely in their wake.
Second Half
Diego Simeone must have given his men a tough rubbing at the half time as Atletico Madrid came out of the tunnel looking drastically sharper.
They went on hard from the off, looking to find a quick equaliser to get back in the match. It took only four minutes into the second term for Atletico Madrid to create the best chance in the game until that point. Real Madrid’s Lucas Vazquez gave the ball away at the edge of the box with Carrasco firing a first-time shot trying to curl it into the top corner from 25 yards out, but the ball went inches past the angle.
Los Rojiblancos continued to press hard and came close to levelling the score in the very next minute.
Antoine Griezmann latched on a clever reverse pass inside the left channel, but the angle was too tight for the Frenchman to fire the shot towards Real Madrid goal. Minutes later, the same player had another chance to score after Luka Modric gave a rare ball away. Griezmann’s close range shot was comfortably clutched by Keylor Navas, but it was the first shot on target for Diego Simeone’s men.
As Atletico Madrid piled pressure they ended up getting punished for their missed chances at the 70th-minute mark when Stefan Savic brought Cristiano Ronaldo down inside the penalty box. It was exactly the Portuguese super star who smoothly converted the penalty with a low drive to the left side of the netting.
Atletico Madrid were down on their knees and it was once more Cristiano Ronaldo who put another nail in their coffin six minutes later. Gareth Bale made a great run down the left and passed the ball to Ronaldo who had nothing but an empty net in front of him inside the box.
Having solved the game with three timely goals, Real Madrid winded down the clock until the end to record their first away Madrid derby in La Liga in the last three years.
Statistical Overview
- Los Blancos won their 1st away La Liga madrid derby since 2013
- Real Madrid extended their impressive unbeaten run to 21 games
- Zidane’s men fired 7 shots on target to Atletico’s 3
- Diego Simeone’s side have now lost 3 of their last 4 league matches
- Real Madrid ended the match with 52% possession to Atletico’s 48%
ATLETICO MADRID: Oblak 7 – Juanfran 6.5, Godin 6.5, Savic 5.5, Filipe Luis – Niguez 6.5, Gabi 6 (Correa 6.5), Koke 7, Carrasco 7 – Griezmann 7, Torres 6 (Gameiro 6.5)
Unused subs: Tiago, Gaitan, Lucas, Moya, Vrsaljko
REAL MADRID: Navas 7 – Carvajal 7, Varane 7.5, nacho 7, Marcelo 7 – Modric 7.5, Kovacic 7, isco 6.5 (Benzema -) – Lucas 6.5 (Asensio -), Ronaldo 8.5 (Rodriguez -), Bale 7.5
Unused subs: Casilla, Coentrao, Danilo, Ramos
REFEREE: David Fernandez Borbalan
Other results today
Deportivo La Coruna 2-3 Sevilla
Barcelona 0-0 Malaga
Eibar 1-0 Celta Vigo
- Soccer News Like
- Be the first of your friends!
