It is with a lot of confidence that los Blancos entered their Copa del Rey match against Ponferradina tonight. The men had become sole leaders in La Liga after their last match against Sevilla, now leading Barcelona in the tables by three points, in addition to having the best run in the history of the Champions League group stage. And tonight, the men sought to seal their pass into the CdR Last 16, having won the 1st leg against La Ponfe 2-0.
José Callejón opened the match for los Blancos with a right-footed shot to the bottom left corner at the 25', Mesut Özil at the assist with a through ball. Prior to the goal, this Madridista was fairly certain that the players forgot there was such a thing as being offside – looking at you, Benzema, Özil, and Callejón! Callejón was very close to scoring Madrid's second of the evening at the 35' with a long-range shot from the left, but his nemesis – the crossbar – got in the way. It was Nuri Sahin who netted Madrid's second with a header at the 44', Özil at the assist with a cross following a corner.
Three minutes after descanso, RM got its third with a left-footed shot from Raphael Varane to the high center of the goal after getting the rebound. Ponferradina returns fire and ended Real Madrid's clean sheet in the CdR at the 53' minute mark with a left-footed shot from Acorán. The rest of the 2nd half was relatively lackadaisical until Madrid's Joselu netted a fourth for the Whites, minutes after having come on the pitch as a replacement for Benzema. The canterano scored with a right-footed shot to the high center of the goal, Callejón at the assist.
It would not surprise me if Real Madrid lists Callejón as Man of the Match. The forward earned Madrid's fifth at the 88' minute mark with a right-footed shot to the bottom right corner, Sahin at the assist with a through ball following a fast break. He came close to earning a hattrick at the 90'+1' with a header, Esteban Granero at the assist with a through ball, but the attempt was saved.
No comments:
Post a Comment