La Liga Week 14 action - Madrid close gap
Wednesday 23 December 2009
While Barcelona were conquering the world in Abu Dhabi, Real Madrid had a chance to close the gap on the champions as they welcomed Real Zaragoza to the Bernabéu.
Los Blancos took the lead within three minutes when the in-form Gonzalo Higuaín fired a low shot into the bottom corner. The lead was doubled when Rafael van der Vaart - a rare starter in the absence of Kaká - was played through with a sumptuous ball by Marcelo, before the Dutchman capitalized on poor defending to score his second and Madrid’s third just two minutes later. The moment of the match came just before the interval when the seemingly unstoppable Higuaín controlled the ball from a great height before lofting it over the defender and looping a shot into the top corner, condemning a sunken Zaragoza to a four-goal deficit at half-time. Cristiano Ronaldo then extended the lead with an impressive solo effort in the 50th minute, before Karim Benzema came off the bench to cap off a scintillating display which brought Madrid to within two points of leaders Barcelona.
The weekend heralded less reward for the rest of the top four. At the Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán, Sevilla had a chance to narrow the margin on the top two as they faced Getafe, but were undone by two first-half Roberto Soldado goals. Álvaro Negredo pulled one back for the home side, but they failed to convert late chances as they searched for the equaliser. More worrying for Sevilla was the head injury sustained by striker Freddie Kanouté. With leading front man Luís Fabiano currently sidelined, Sevilla will most certainly be praying for a quick recovery. Valencia too were left to rue missed opportunities as they were held to a goalless draw by Deportivo La Coruña at the Estadio Riazor, in a game where chances were scarce and both sides seemed resigned to sharing the points. Valencia remain in fourth but now lie 10 points behind Barcelona, while Deportivo drop to sixth place but are still just two points away from the coveted Champions League qualification spots.
After their early struggles, Villarreal are up to ninth place after a 2-0 win over Racing Santander at El Madrigal. Joseba Llorente opened the scoring in the 49th minute after a goalless first half, before Giuseppe Rossi secured all three points. The win remarkably takes the Yellow Submarine to within eight points of fourth spot. In contrast, Atlético Madrid continue to struggle after being held to a 1-1 draw at Tenerife. The visitors were outplayed by a spirited Tenerife side, who would consider themselves somewhat unfortunate to not have taken all three points after an impressive penalty save by Sergio Asenjo. Elsewhere, Athletic Bilbao moved up to seventh place after overcoming Osasuna at San Mames courtesy of goals from Yeste and Fernando Llorente. Mallorca remain in fifth place despite being beaten by Málaga at La Rosaleda, who are now just one point away from moving out of the relegation zone. Espanyol ended a run of five losses with a 2-0 win over struggling Almería, while Valladolid beat Sporting Gijón 2-1.
Full results
Saturday December 19, 2009
Real Madrid 6-0 Real Zaragoza
Sevilla 1-2 Getafe
Athletic Bilbao 2-1 Osasuna
Sunday December 20, 2009
Deportivo La Coruña 0-0 Valencia
Tenerife 1-1 Atlético Madrid
Málaga 2-1 Mallorca
Villarreal 2-0 Racing Santander
Espanyol 2-0 Almería
Valladolid 2-1 Sporting Gijón
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