Cristiano Ronaldo after scoring against Racing Santander
Real Madrid thrashed Racing Santander 4-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu tonight for the 23rd round of the La Liga giving them a temporarily 13 point lead in the League standings over FC Barcelona who will be playing tomorrow against third placed Valencia at Camp Nou.
Cristiano Ronaldo headed Real’s first goal after just six minutes after an excellent assistance from Brazilian international Kaká. It was Ronaldo’s 28th goal of the season, five more than his main rival and World Player of the Year, Lionel Messi of Barça.
Barring any unforeseen injury, Cristiano Ronaldo is well on his way to beating his own record of 40 goals in La Liga last season. He is just 13 goals short of breaking another record for the “Pichichi” (best scorer in the Spanish League) and he still has 15 games left to get there.
Racing Santander were reduced to ten men on the 39th minute when defender Domingo Cismo got his second yellow card and subsequent marching orders after handling the ball for the second time in the first half.
Karim Benzema, the French international increased the advantage to 2-0 on the 45th minute when his shot was deflected by Bernardo the Santander defender who was being pressured by Sergio Ramos.
The second half continued with Real Madrid dominating the game and at 73 minutes, the former Benfica player Di Maria, who returned to action after nearly two months of absence, scored the third and best goal of the game after a powerful left-footed shot from outside the area with no chance of defense by goalkeeper Tono.
Just before the end of the game on minute 89, Benzema scored his second of the night to put Real Madrid 4-0 up and give José Mourinho’s team their 18th win in 19 League games since the end of September. The Merengues now have 61 points in La Liga from 23 games.
