Los Blancos took
on Sporting de Gijón Saturday night in jornada
15 of La Liga at El Molinón, the stadium where the infamous phrase "así,
así, así, así gana el Madrid" was coined. Madrid fans have subsequently and ingeniously adopted this
phrase sans mocking tones. It was
with great fear and anticipation that this writer watched this partido against Sporting. Last season, Sporting and Sporting fans
alike received Madrid with great hostility at El Molinón. From the dangerous fouls to the racist
jeers, I feared for the safety of the men in white, especially with El Clásico closely approaching.
It was unclear as to whether Cristiano Ronaldo would be able
to play Sporting days before, having suffered a sprained ankle from a tackle
from Luis Perea in the match against Atlético Madrid. He missed out on training earlier in the week, but was
deemed able to play on Thursday.
It just so happens that Sporting is one of three teams that Cristiano
has not scored against in La Liga.
Or should I say was?
The first half remained mild in comparison to last year's
explosive events. A total of five yellows
were issued, one to Madrid, which made me question Eduardo Iturralde González's
judgment as a referee, considering José Callejón was on the bench. Callejón received the amarilla for protesting, unpleased with Iturralde's ruling on
the harsh challenge on Marcelo as a mere yellow for Sporting's Sebastián
Eguren. However, a brilliant goal from
Ángel di María – a left-footed shot into the bottom right corner – at the 35'
minute mark helped quell Madridistas everywhere. Los Blancos
entered the descanso with a 1-0 lead
over Sporting.
The second half started off with a number of attempts from
Cristiano to score against Sporting.
His persistence paid off at the 64' minute mark when ball met net, with a
right-footed shot into the bottom right corner, Di María at the assist. ¡Felicidades,
crack! Madrid 2, Sporting 0.
Sporting continued to play rough throughout the second 45,
evident with Eguren's second yellow in the evening for a bad foul, therefore
forcing a red. The Uruguayan
defensive midfielder was sent off the pitch at the 77' minute mark. This put Sporting at a disadvantage, a
disadvantage that los Blancos Madrid earned 3 corners
and made 7 attempts for goal. The
7th attempt became Madrid's third goal of the evening at the 91'
minute mark. Brazilian defender,
Marcelo, scored with a left-footed shot from the left side of the box to the
top right corner, with Karim Benzema at the assist.
exploited.
Los Blancos haven't
conceded a single goal at El Molinón in the past 16 years. More importantly, they secured a 3-0
win over Sporting, maintaining control at the top of La Liga. Real Madrid plays against Ajax
Amsterdam in the Champions League on December 7th at Amsterdam
Arena. ¡Hala Madrid!
written by Gail Hidalgo
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