A 200th league goal from captain Raul Gonzalez helped Real Madrid overcome Espanyol 2-1 on Saturday as they took the first step towards erasing the painful memory of their Champions League exit.
Raul's 72nd minute penalty moved Real eight points clear at the top of the Spanish first division.
"Normally you have faith in your players and the team as a whole although it was difficult for us after we went behind," said Real coach Bernd Schuster, who was under pressure after the midweek European exit at the hands of Roma.
"The psychological factor was really important today especially after Wednesday and we showed a lot of character. I didn't see the penalty incident, but they tell me it was [a penalty]," he said.
Three days ago Real were dumped out of Europe at their fortress Santiago Bernabeu and there was an air of tension, especially when Real old boy Valdo put Espanyol ahead.
Gonzalo Higuain equalized shortly before halftime and fittingly Raul, who made his Real debut back in 1994, netted the winner to bring up his double century in the league.
It was a 13th goal this season for Raul who is having his best season for years and is only 16 goals behind the club's all-time top-scorer Alfredo Di Stefano.
The result was also a shot in the arm for Schuster, who had to listen to intense speculation about his future following the Roma debacle.
Espanyol, who defeated Real earlier in the season, stay fifth after the loss. Real's city neighbors Atletico Madrid could not capitalize, however, losing 2-1 at Real Zaragoza.
Atletico, who beat Barcelona 4-2 last weekend, went ahead through Portuguese winger Simao. But a Pablo Tebar own-goal and a Diego Milito penalty turned the game on its head.
Atletico stay fourth but will rue the missed chance to move level on points with third-placed Villarreal.
For new Zaragoza coach Manolo Villanova it was the perfect debut as he bids to lift the club away from the relegation dogfight.
Real manager Schuster showed his anger with three changes from the starting line-up against Roma with Michael Salgado, Fabio Cannavaro and Fernando Gago making way for Higuain, Miguel Torres and Marcelo.
Real goalkeeper Iker Casillas reached another landmark with his 300th league appearance, having made his debut in 1999.
South Korean giants T1, led by “Faker,” won their fifth League of Legends (LoL) world championship crown in London on Saturday, beating China’s Bilibili Gaming (BLG) in a thrilling final. The teams were locked at 2-2 at a packed O2 arena, but T1 clinched game five to make it back-to-back titles after nearly four hours of tense action. China’s BLG started strongly, taking the first game before T1 struck back to level. The Chinese team pulled ahead again at 2-1 only for their opponents to hit back again and go on to take the decider. Faker, who won the Most
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Belgian partner Elise Mertens on Monday notched up their first win in the doubles group stage of the WTA Finals in Riyadh to keep their semi-final hopes alive, while Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russian partner Veronika Kudermetova were aiming to record their first victory after press time last night. Third seeds Hsieh and Mertens came back from a disheartening opening-day loss to Australia’s Ellen Perez and Nicole Melichar-Martinez to defeat top seeds Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok and Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko, the women’s doubles world No. 3 and 4 respectively. The 6-1, 6-3 victory at King Saud University Indoor Arena
Amber Glenn overcame a fall and her own doubts to win a maiden Grand Prix figure skating title on Saturday at the Grand Prix de France. The American skater had the lead from Friday’s short program. That and the support of the crowd got her through a tough free skate in which she fell on a triple flip and put a hand onto the ice to steady herself on two other jumps. “I didn’t feel that great out there today, but I really tried, and the audience really got me through that last half when I was doubting myself,” Glenn
WORLD SERIES: ‘The individuals that were involved in that last night was a very small segment of the east Los Angeles community,’ the Los Angeles county sheriff said Rowdy crowds took to the streets of Los Angeles after the LA Dodgers won the Major League Baseball (MLB) World Series, setting a city bus on fire, breaking into stores and lighting fireworks. A dozen arrests were reported by police on Thursday, but officials said that most fans celebrated peacefully. Video showed revelers throwing objects at police in downtown LA as sirens blared and officers told them to leave the area on Wednesday night after the Dodgers defeated the New York Yankees in Game 5 of the MLB World Series at Giants Stadium in New York. Another video showed someone standing atop
RSS