Sunday, December 4, 2011

Sporting Gijon 0-3 Real Madrid

Walking into El Molinon, Real Madrid knew just how difficult this game could possibly be. Last season, Real Madrid barely won the game 1-0 then lost the second game at Santiago Bernabeu 1-0 to end Jose Mourinho's nine-year unbeaten home run. Just to make things worse, Real Madrid had to go on the pitch without Xabi Alonso, who had to serve a suspension after collecting five yellow cards. Lassana Diarra took his place in midfield while, for the first time, we saw Fabio Coentrao taking right-back.

The game had a slow start as both teams were playing mostly in the middle while trying to go up for chances but nothing seemed to work. As the game wore on, it kept getting more intense until Angel Di Maria was able to cap off a great dribble mixed with a big mistake from Sporting defender, Damien Suarez, and got the ball into the net with a great shot from the side, which ended the first half 1-0 to the visitors.

The second half only got better as Madrid came out showing more determination. Cristiano Ronaldo made sure he'll stay top of the scoring charts (tied with Barcelona's Lionel Messi) as he capped off a great assist by Di Maria to make it 2-0 in the 65th minute. Real Madrid kept the possession and kept the chances coming from Gonzalo Higuain, Di Maria, Ronaldo, and Mesut Ozil.

To end a great performance, Marcelo made it 3-0 with a great shot in the 92nd minute.

Marcelo had a great game overall with amazing dribbling, passing, and flair. I believe that he has grown so much with the team and is showing what he's truly capable of. True, he can still work some more on his defending, but his contribution to the team has been unbelievable, which is why he should stay as left-back instead of Fabio Coentrao. It will be very interesting to see what he can offer when it comes to the Clasico!

Also, Gonzalo Higuain has been outstanding this season though last night was a bit of a shocker as he was really not able to make any type of difference. Everyone has a bad game once in a while and I'm glad that yesterday was his and hopefully he can come back from this and go back to showing his worth and why it has been so difficult for coach Jose Mourinho to really pick between him and Karim Benzema

Best Real Madrid Player: Angel Di Maria
Worst Real Madrid Player: Gonzalo Higuain


LA LIGA TOP 5:

1. Real Madrid - 37 points
2. Barcelona - 34 points
3. Valencia - 30 points
4. Levante - 26 points
5. Malaga - 23 points

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I believe HiguaĆ­n used to be more of a team player, like back int he Capello days. Nos he just goes fro shots mostly, so if they don't go in, his contribution is limited.

Javi said...

Marcelo's dribbling was spectacular last night. I'd like to see more of that.

Ali said...

Anonymous: Very true. He needs to get back to that soon. He's still a great player but needs to be more of a team player I think

Javi: Marcelo was simply outstanding. Great game from the Brazilian :)