Van Nistelrooy's late strike lifts Real Madrid
Saturday, 27 September 08, 06:25 PM · Comments(0)
Seville, Spain (Sports Network) - Ruud van Nistelrooy scored in stoppage time to help Real Madrid slip past Real Betis, 2-1 on Saturday at Estadio Manuel Ruiz de Lopera.
Gabriel Heinze got the defending champions off to a good start with his goal in the 19th minute, but Betis leveled the match in the 54th minute when Sergio Garcia followed up a missed penalty kick to beat Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas.
Both teams were down to 10 men for the final eight minutes of the game, but Real snatched the maximum points when Arjen Robben set up Van Nistelrooy for the game winner.
Rafael Van der Vaart set up the opening goal when he curled a free kick into the box from the left. Heinze then cut between two defenders and nodded the ball home from close range.
The home side nearly equalized before halftime when Mehmet Aurelio's deflected cross from the right fell into the path of Achille Emana inside the area. Emana struck the ball first time for the bottom corner but Casillas got a hand to the ball, knocking it off the post.
Betis did pull level shortly after the restart when Damia got behind the defense and was clipped by Marcelo on his to goal, giving Betis a spot kick and earning the Real defender a red card.
Garcia stepped to the spot and had his kick stopped by Casillas, but the rebound fell to his feet for an easy finish to make it 1-1.
However, Garcia picked up a second yellow card eight minutes from time, and Robben set up Van Nistelrooy for the winning strike by running at a defender and laying a pass of to his countryman. Van Nistelrooy got into the box on the right and rolled the ball perfectly inside the far post, denying the hosts a point.
Villarreal moved to the top of the table with a 1-0 win over last-place Sporting Gijon, which lost to Real Madrid and Barcelona by a combined 13-2 this past week. Sporting hung tough with Villarreal on Saturday but a Giuseppe Rossi goal in the 65th minute finally put them away.
Barcelona fell behind 1-0 to Espanyol but rallied to win 2-1 as Thierry Henry scored in the 84th minute and Lionel Messi converted a spot kick on the final play of the game to give Barca the win.
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JASON TAVERNER said:Real Madrid are struggling to compete in all competitons now so they are clingi...
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Stip, MK
I think I`ts time for Higuain to shine in the white shirt.After seling Robinho there is more space for Higuain to be in the first team.What do you think is Higuain ready for the chalenge? -I think he is.
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