A delightful back-heel from Guti set up Karim Benzema for the first of a brace as Real Madrid, without suspended Cristiano Ronaldo, beat Deportivo La Coruna 3-1 on Saturday.
The win kept Real five points behind Barcelona who had earlier defeated Sporting Gijon to stay top of La Liga in a game that also saw the champions reach the 50-goal mark for the league season.
Esteban Granero headed Real ahead after 13 minutes with the game played out in the home side’s half at the Riazor, where the Madrid giants had not won for almost 20 years.
PHOTO: REUTERS
With Felipe Luis injured, Manuel Pablo moved to the left-hand side and the defense never looked comfortable, especially against the pace of Benzema.
Raul had the chance to add to the lead with a close-range volley before a moment of real quality from Guti. Through on goal instead of shooting on his weaker right foot, he back-heeled the ball into the path of Benzema to slot home.
Deportivo had their chances in the second half as Real took their foot off the gas and in a late rally Ivan Riki scored a penalty. The last word though was from Benzema who wrapped up the scoring in injury time.
“We went out to get the result from the very start even though this was not a win at all costs game. We knew how to deal with an important match against a good side,” Real coach Manuel Pellegrini said.
“I am very happy with the win because it was in a stadium which traditionally has been a difficult place to come for Real Madrid and also because we played well, although it did get a bit tight at the end,” he said.
Barcelona stayed top after Pedro scored the only goal in a 1-0 win over Sporting Gijon. Mate Bilic went close with a header for the home side before Pedro put the visitors ahead with a clinical finish from a defense-breaking through ball by Andres Iniesta on the 30-minute mark.
“This is a good result for us because we played in a stadium where very few teams have won,” Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola said. “My only regret is that is that we did not make the right decisions in the final moments of the game that would have made the result a lot more comfortable.”
Sporting coach Manolo Preciado though felt that the free-kick that led up to Barca’s goal was not correctly taken.
“That goal was first of all an error from the referee and then from us but this is part of soccer, sometimes it goes for you and others not,” he said.
A Luis Garcia strike saw Espanyol overcome Athletic Bilbao 1-0 in a scrappy match to give them breathing space at the bottom of La Liga earlier on Saturday. The home side dominated from the start a match in which injury-hit Athletic were never able to get into their stride. The Athletic keeper Gorka Iraizoz made a couple of important interventions in the first half but he was powerless to block Garcia’s close-range winner on 58 minutes after good work from Javi Marquez down the left wing.
The result moves Espanyol six points clear of the relegation zone.
Taiwan kept their hopes of advancing to next year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Saturday, backed by solid pitching. Taiwan last night played against Nicaragua. As of press time, Nicaragua was leading 6-0. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan on Saturday kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen struck out one and allowed no hits, except for a hit-by-pitch over
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
Team Taiwan are set to face Spain in a win-or-go-home match tonight for the final berth at the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), despite losing to Nicaragua 6-0 in the WBC qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Sunday. The home team’s loss on Sunday means Nicaragua finish first in the qualifier round in Taipei with a perfect 3-0 record and advances to next year’s finals. After crushing South Africa 9-1 earlier on Sunday, Spain took second place in the four-team qualifier with a 2-1 record. With a 1-2 record, Taiwan finished third while South Africa placed at the bottom with
Team Taiwan avoided missing the World Baseball Classic (WBC) for the first time by defeating Spain 6-3 in a do-or-die game in Taipei last night. After narrowly escaping a mercy-rule loss to Spain in the WBC Qualifiers opener on Friday last week, the home team — winner of last year's WBSC Premier12 title three months ago — got their revenge against the 2023 European champions at Taipei Dome. "It felt quite different from when we won the Premier12," Taiwan captain Chen Chieh-hsien (陳傑憲) said after the game, recalling the ups and downs the team has experienced over the past few days. Unlike in
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