A substituted Cristiano Ronaldo cut a disconsolate
figure as Real Madrid conceded a late equaliser to
draw 2-2 at Las Palmas on Saturday.
Earlier, Barcelona shrugged off the absence of the
injured Lionel Messi to move to within a point of
Madrid at the top of the table as Luis Suarez and
Neymar were on target in a 5-0 thrashing of
Sporting Gijon.
Ronaldo was replaced moments after helping Madrid
go 2-1 in front when Karim Benzema slotted home
the rebound after the Portuguese’s initial effort was
saved.
However, he watched on as Sergio Araujo took
advantage of some soft Madrid defending to level as
the European champions dropped points for the
second time in four days.
Stung by a poor first-half performance in a 1-1
draw with Villarreal in midweek that snapped a
16-game La Liga winning streak, Madrid pressed
high from the off and had 17 shots in a wide open
first 45 minutes.
Las Palmas ‘keeper Javi Varas repelled Alvaro
Morata’s powerful header before Ronaldo fluffed his
lines when presented with a glorious chance from
Morata’s cut-back.
Eventually Real made the breakthrough just after
the half-hour mark when Varas made another fine
save from Nacho’s low effort, but Marco Asensio
followed up to head into an empty net.
The lead lasted just five minutes, though, as
Raphael Varane’s poor defensive header fell at the
feet of Tana, who slotted past the helpless Kiko
Casilla.
More Varas heroics denied Gareth Bale either side
of half-time as the Welshman saw two fierce drives
beaten to safety.
Varas also saved from Ronaldo midway through the
second half, but substitute Benzema was on hand to
turn home the loose ball.
Ronaldo was then replaced by Lucas Vazquez, but
didn’t acknowledge coach Zinedine Zidane as he
sulked off the field.
And the three-time World Player of the Year’s
mood worsened when Araujo slotted home the
equaliser five minutes from time.
– Suarez magic –
Earlier, Barca overcame a difficult opening half hour
to hit five past 10-man Sporting.
Yet, Barca coach Luis Enrique was far from
satisfied with his side’s display, particularly early in
the second half.
“It is a result that doesn’t tell the true story of the
game — 5-0 makes it seem easy and simple and
that couldn’t be further from the truth,” he said.
“We were poor at the start of the second half, we
didn’t kill the game off and Sporting could have got
back into the game.
“Fortunately, that wasn’t to be and after the
sending-off it unbalanced the game and allowed us
to score those three goals at the end.”
One moment of Suarez magic turned the game in
Barca’s favour as he raced onto Arda Turan’s
through ball and flicked the ball past the onrushing
Ivan Cuellar before slotting into an empty net.
A fine team goal put the game beyond Sporting
moments later as Neymar freed Sergi Roberto down
the right and Rafinha met his cross with a powerful
near-post header.
Barca appeared to have eased up in the second half
ahead of Wednesday’s visit to Borussia
Moenchengladbach in the Champions League as
Sergio Busquets and Suarez were replaced by Denis
Suarez and Paco Alcacer.
However, the goals flowed after Alberto Lora dived
in on Roberto to leave his side a man light.
Alcacer was denied his first Barca goal when he
smashed the ball off the underside of the bar, but
Neymar mopped up the rebound to make it 3-0.
Roberto was the provider once more for the fourth as
Turan powered home his cross at the back post four
minutes later.
Denis Suarez then teed up Neymar to sweep home
his second of the game two minutes from time.
Sevilla missed the chance to go level with Madrid at
the top as they suffered their first league defeat of
the season, losing 3-1 at Athletic Bilbao.
On-loan Manchester City midfielder Samir Nasri
netted his first Sevilla goal to cancel out Mikel San
Jose’s opener for the Basques.
Mikel Balenziaga put the hosts back in front and
Aritz Aduriz sealed Athletic’s fourth straight win
which puts them third in the table from the penalty
spot after he was elbowed in the back by Salvatore
Sirigu, the foul earning the Italian ‘keeper a
straight red card.
