Madrid: Valencia kept the pressure on Liga leaders Barcelona by beating Celta Vigo 2-1, Saturday with a late penalty from Dani Parejo while Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice for the first time in a league game this season as Real Madrid thrashed Sevilla 5-0.
The wins took Valencia to 36 points, two behind Barcelona. The La Liga leaders, however, can extend their lead when they travel Sunday to Villareal. Real Madrid are third with 31 points in their kitty.
At the Santiago Bernabeu, hosts Real Madrid overcame a selection crisis in defence to crush Sevilla with a lethal attacking display, scoring all their goals before half time.
Real were without Raphael Varane, captain Sergio Ramos, Dani Carvajal and holding midfielder Casemiro but got off to an ideal start when Nacho Fernandez cashed in on a woeful attempted clearance following a corner to score in the third minute.
Ronaldo, who had paraded his joint-record five Ballon d’Or trophies on the Santiago Bernabeu pitch before kick-off, side-footed home a through ball from Marco Asensio to score the second before thumping in the third from the penalty spot.
Toni Kroos scored the most impressive goal of the game by charging forward from his own half and playing a wall pass with Lucas Vazquez before stroking the ball beyond Rico, while 18-year-old Achraf Hakimi notched his first goal for the Madrid giants to complete another lethal breakaway.
Real Madrid coach Zidane was delighted with his side’s performance, especially after last week’s goalless draw at Athletic Bilbao. “It has been a great day for us, above all because we won and scored a lot and we hadn’t done that much so far this season. It was a very complete game for us and that means a lot to me,” the Frenchman told a news conference.
“We’re growing in every sense and playing better. When you play better you create more chances, we created a lot today (Saturday) and scored five times, for the first time this season (in the league). This is the way we can play,” Zidane added.
Reuters
