After hat trick, no one better than Ronaldo at Madrid derby
Ronaldo had endured a slow start to the campaign by his own high standards but, in his first game since putting pen to paper on a five-year extension with Real on November 7, the Portugal captain scored a hat trick in Saturday’s 3-0 triumph at Atletico Madrid.
Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane believes there is no doubt that Cristiano Ronaldo is the world’s best player.
“Ronaldo near the Golden Ball?”
There was more than a stroke of luck as Ronaldo’s free kick found a gap in the Atletico wall and took a big deflection to leave Oblak helpless.
The win leaves Real Madrid in pole position to win La Liga, especially after Barcelona’s 0-0 home draw with Malaga.
Teammate: “What are you going to do to him?”
The 25 year old who joined Arsenal FC from Cardiff City in 2008 has made more than 250 appearances for The Gunners, as he enters his final 18 months of his contract with Arsenal and is yet to sign a new deal for Wenger’s men.
The victory was Los Blancos’ 9th of the season, and they have only failed to win 3 games in the La Liga this season with the fixtures ending in draws.
The champions came closest to breaking the deadlock when Paco Alcacer and Gerard Pique saw their efforts disallowed for offside.
“We were fine up to the penalty, from there it was all uphill”.
Angel Di Maria and Jese Rodriguez opened their Ligue 1 scoring accounts this season in French champion Paris Saint Germain’s 2-0 win over Nantes at the Parc des Princes Saturday.
Nice, also on 29 points, is in third on goal difference.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored to help Real Madrid to victory over Sporting in September. Villarreal can take Sevilla’s place if wins at Athletic Bilbao later Sunday.
Raul Garcia was on hand to bury a rebound midway through the second period after an Aritz Aduriz shot was blocked by Villarreal goalkeeper Sergio Asenjo.
“In the second half it was logical Atletico’s pressure [increased] in those first 15 minutes, but we produced the necessary intensity against a complicated opponent”.
Atleti were perceived to have improved early in the second half, until their hopes of a comeback were slashed by Ronaldo converting from the spot midway through, and Simeone lamented the timing of the Portuguese’s goal.
Espanyol extended its unbeaten streak to six matches thanks to Gerard Moreno’s 81st-minute victor at Alaves.