Real Madrid Victorious Over Sporting and Tally 107 Goals in La Liga

Real Madrid (36' Higuaín, 73' Cristiano, 82' Benzema) 3 - 1 (29' De las Cuevas) Sporting Gijón

 

Los Blancos faced Sporting Gijón tonight at the Santiago Bernabéu in Jornada 34.  This match was Madrid's last match before facing bitter rivals FC Barcelona and what many a Twitter follower considered "the calm before the storm."  Thankfully, José Mourinho's side managed to keep their cool with a 3-1 victory over their opponents, earning three very important and much needed points, moving them seven points clear of Barça.  (Note: This was written prior to Barça's results against Levante.)

The night began shakily, the Whites finding themselves behind when Sergio Ramos conceded a penalty with a handball.  Sporting's Miguel de las Cuevas converted the penalty with a right-footed shot to the center of goal at the 29', putting them 1-0 over Real Madrid.  José Mourinho did not seem pleased.  In fact, he seemed quite disappointed – perhaps frustrated is a better choice – with his men as he yelled from the sidelines.

 

But not to worry, Madridistas.  Real Madrid responded seven minutes later and equalized the match.  Ramos made amends for his earlier mishap and found Gonzalo "Pipita" Higuaín with an amazing cross, which the Argentine headed home to the bottom left corner.  The men entered descanso 1-1.  While not the result I had hoped for, I suppose it certainly was better than 1-0.

Mourinho – Rui Faria too, given the way he kept getting up from his seat earlier in the evening – must have had choice words for his men during the break because they seemed hungry for goal, ravenous even, at the start of the second half.  A double substitution was made in hopes of speeding up RM's attack, where Ángel di María and Karim Benzema replaced José Callejón and Nuri Sahin, respectively.  However, Sporting did well to keep up their defenses, Juan Pablo commanding the helm.

Cristiano Ronaldo completed the turnaround at the 73', calming frustrated Madridistas worldwide.  Di María crossed the ball to the unmarked Portuguese international, who headed the ball in to the bottom left corner.  This would be Cristiano's 41^st goal in La Liga this season, beating his own record of 40 league goals last season.  ¡Felicidades, crack!

 

Sporting unraveled, their resilience coming undone, at the 81' when German wunderkind Mesut Özil slipped Benzema a beautiful throughball.  The Frenchman tallied Madrid's third – 107^th of the campaign – with a right-footed shot to the bottom left corner.  Even with added time, Sporting was unable to up their score.

Real Madrid face Bayern Munich next in the 1^st Leg of the UEFA Champions League semifinals, Tuesday, April 17.  Next in La Liga, we have a Clásico in our hands with the men playing an away match at Camp Nou.  Goodness.  Until then, keep calm and ¡Hala Madrid!

written by Gail Hidalgo