In a dramatic night at the Bernabeu, Real Madrid eventually saw off a resilient Malaga side that had twice equalised. Cristiano Ronaldo scored the decisive goal with fifteen minutes remaining, firing home a rebound after his penalty was initially saved. The result means that Real Madrid have at least put some pressure on Valencia and Barcelona who go head to head tonight. Los Blancos have though, slipped to fourth as Atletico Madrid thrashed Levante 5-0 and now have a better goal difference.
The match began with Real Madrid on the attack and it wasn’t long before the first goal came. Moments after Cristiano Ronaldo had struck the crossbar with a headed effort, Karim Benzema was on hand to tap into an open goal from close range on 9 minutes. Zinedine Zidane’s men seemed to relax a little after the goal and invited pressure. Malaga striker Diego Rolan was quickest to react to a misplaced pass and levelled for the visitors on 18 minutes. Los Boquerones were soon behind again though, with Casemiro heading home from a Toni Kroos corner on 21 minutes.
It stayed that way until half-time and after the break it looked as if Real Madrid were happy to sit on their lead. That plan backfired on 59 minutes, when Gonzalo Castro hit a speculative effort from distance which caught out Kiko Casilla, the Real Madrid stopper only able to parry the ball into his own net. It set up a grandstand finish, as Los Blancos pushed and probed for a winner. Then came a lifeline when Luis Hernandez barged over Luka Modric in the box for the late penalty. CR7 is usually Mr Reliable but it almost went pear-shaped. Malaga goalkeeper Roberto Jimenez pulled off a good save from the spot-kick but the ball fell kindly for Ronaldo and he didn’t miss.
The main thing is that no points were dropped but it was another far from convincing display. Real Madrid made heavy weather of this match and may not get away with such complacency in future games. On a positive note, both Benzema and Ronaldo finally scored again in La Liga.
