Betis 0-5 Real Madrid: Ronaldo leads rout as Benzema reaches century
Los Blancos produced a thoroughly impressive display to dispatch the
poor hosts, with the victory pulling them level with Barcelona and
Atletico Madrid at the top of La Liga
Real Madrid moved level on top of La Liga
along with Barcelona and Atletico Madrid thanks to a comprehensive 5-0
win over Betis on Saturday afternoon.
The visitors'
start to 2014 was unblemished coming into this match after winning all
four of their matches in all competitions without conceding a single
goal and Betis rarely threatened that record.
A wonderful early
strike from Cristiano Ronaldo took the Ballon d'Or winner's tally for
the season to 31 goals and the Madrid club did not have to wait long for
a second as Gareth Bale buried a free-kick in the 25th minute.
Benzema
ensured the first half ended in even more despair for Betis, converting
after good play by Luka Modric and a fourth arrived just after the hour
mark when Angel Di Maria produced a sublime finish from distance.
Substitute Alvaro Morata added a fifth late on as rampant Madrid extended their unbeaten run to 17 matches in all competitions.
Osasuna
were Betis' conquerors in their previous league outing last weekend and
coach Juan Carlos Garrido made four alterations to that team, while
Alvaro Vadillo and Joan Verdu were deemed fit enough to take places on
the bench.
Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti named the same side that picked up a routine 1-0 win at Espanyol on Sunday.
The visitors may have been met by raucous atmosphere in Seville, but Ronaldo
silenced the home support in the 10th minute as he hit an unstoppable
screamer into the top-right corner of the goal from 30 yards out.
Betis' attacking threat was non-existent and Madrid capitalised by doubling their lead 25 minutes in. Antonio Amaya fouled Bale
after cutting in from the right and the world's most expensive player
fired the resulting free-kick in past the static Stephan Andersen.
The
hosts could have pulled one back just before the break had Ruben Castro
connected with Leo Baptistao's right-wing cross, but Betis ultimately
went in at half-time trailing by three goals as Benzema fired into the bottom-left corner after a clever cutback by Luka Modric.
Ronaldo
spurned a glorious chance seven minutes into the second period as he
collected Benzema's throughball and shot from just inside the area, but
Andersen tipped it wide of his right-hand post.
Madrid's fourth did arrive eventually, however. The hosts seemingly cleared Modric's 62nd-minute corner, but Di Maria pounced on the loose ball and hammered a rasping half-volley into the bottom-right corner about 35 yards from goal.
Morata
notched his side's fifth in stoppage time as he controlled a wayward
overhead-kick attempt by Ronaldo before poking in, helping Madrid keep
pace with Atletico and Barca, while Ancelotti's men picked up their
fifth consecutive clean sheet in all competitions.
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