La Liga, Bernabeu - Real Madrid 3 (Marcelo27, Ronaldo 30, Jese 81) Levante 0
Record-breaker Cristiano Ronaldo helped his side to the top of the table as Real Madrid recorded a 3-0- victory over Levante at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Ronaldo grabbed his side’s second goal of the game to overtake Raul as Real Madrid’s all-time leading goalscorer on 324.
The Portuguese star had drawn level with Raul’s club record with two goals in a Champions League win over Malmo on September 30 but had to wait until after the international break to go clear of the former Spain forward, who this week announced his retirement from football.
CR7, as he likes to be known – whose previous five league goals so far this season came in the rout against Espanyol – found space on the edge of the area and curled a wonderful strike into the bottom corner on the 30 minute mark for his first goal in four La Liga games.
Marcelo had previously broken the deadlock just three minutes earlier. The impressive Jese – who came on as a second-half substitute – extended the lead on 81 minutes as Real Madrid earned their first win in three league games.
Much of the pre-match coverage had focused on the apparent rift between Ronaldo and his team mate Gareth Bale but manager Rafa Benitez gave both a starting place in attack.
Bale was substituted at half-time but it’s unclear whether he picked up a knock in the first-half or if the decision was purely tactical.
The win places the unbeaten Real Madrid at the top of the La Liga with five wins from eight games but their rivals have a game to spare.
KEY MOMENTS
4’ - SAVE! Roger with a great chance to put the visitors into the lead but a good stop from Navas denies him. The resulting corner comes to nothing. What a decent opportunity for Levante.
25’ - CHANCE! A cross finds Deyverson free at the back post but he misjudges the flight of the ball and kind of slips on it, allowing Navas to rush from goal and collect. What a let off for the hosts.
27’ - GOAL - Real Madrid 1-0 Levante! Marcelo plays a wonderfully timed one-two with Ronaldo before slotting the ball into the back of the net. What a move, nice goal.
30 ‘ - GOAL - Real Madrid 2-0 Levante! What a goal from CR7. He finds the ball in space and picks his spot before curling the ball into the corner of the net. HE'S BACK!
64’ - CHANCE! A real opportunity for the substitute Ghilas to score for the visitors as he latches onto a pass and, with just Navas to beat, he tries to lob the ball over the goalkeeper who manages to make a block.
81’ - GOAL - Real Madrid 3-0 Levante! Jese extends the home side's lead to three with a lovely finish from a tight angle. He showed his marker a couple of step-overs before slotting past Ruben.
85’ – CLOSE! The substitute powers a shot at goal and if it was half a metre lower Real would be celebrating their fourth of the afternoon.
TALKING POINT
Comfortable win for Real but Rafa remains under pressure – A 3-0 win, competing at the top of La Liga and cruising in the Champions League, what’s the problem? Real Madrid have been far from their best so far this season and despite the comfortable score-line on this occasion, they were far from convincing. The result flattered them. It’s a long, hard season and Real need to shape up if they are to improve on last season.
MAN OF THE MATCH
Marcelo (Real Madrid) – The Brazilian full back was magnificent all afternoon. He caused Levante endless problems with his energetic display. His fantastic link-up play with Ronaldo for the first goal epitomized his performance.
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