La Liga Week 10: Barcelona's Eto'o & Madrid's Higuain Both Get Quadruple In Their Teams' Victories
November 10th 2008 21:11
Real Madrid – Malaga: 4-3
In a match plagued by poor refereeing (for both sides, I might add), it was the defending champions who came out on top thanks to Gonzalo Higuain's brilliant performance. Once again, their opponents took advantage of Madrid's weakness on the left side to open the score five minutes into the game. Winger Eliseu easily got past both Marcelo and Heinze before delivering a low cross into the box, but the ball surprisingly came back to him as Baha's strike hit both Sergio Ramos and the post. With Iker Casillas out of position, Eliseu only had to push the ball into the wide open net. Two minutes later, Marcelo repaired his defensive lapse by making a penetrating run in Malaga's box. His shot was blocked by the goalkeeper, but Higuain didn't miss the rebound to put the score at 1-1. Madrid had most of the possession for the next ten minutes, repeatedly testing Malaga's goalkeeper who gave several huge rebounds. At the 17th minute, Malaga took the lead once again thanks to poor marking by Madrid. At the 36th minute, the home side was rewarded a penalty which was easily converted by Higuain. Tied at 2-2, the Meringues would lose a big piece of their team before half-time when Sergio Ramos was sent off for stepping on an opposing player's chest.
The second half was a bit more subdued as the visitors started to get a bit more possession of the ball while Madrid players only watched them play. Consequently, Malaga took the lead for the third time of the night at the 69th minute via penalty. They didn't have much time to celebrate though because one minute later, Higuain completed his hat-trick with a superb shot at the edge of the box. Finally, the Argentine striker scored the winning goal at the 77th minute on another penalty. It was a rough night for the Madridistas, but they came up with the three points, and that's all that matters.
Real Madrid's line-up: Iker Casillas; Sergio Ramos, Fabio Cannavaro, Gabriel Heinze, Marcelo; Wesley Sneijder (Michele Salgado, h-t), Fernando Gago, Guti, Royston Drenthe (Javier Saviola, 72nd), Rafael Van der Vaart (Mahamadou Diarra, 82th); Gonzalo Higuain.
Barcelona – Valladolid: 6-0
The goal festival continued with Barcelona's confrontation against Valladolid. Samuel Eto'o kept up with his hot streak, scoring four consecutive goals in the first half, all results of great passing by the Blaugrana. Despite a more active approach by Valladolid in the second half, they couldn't hold up to Barca's powerful attacks. Both Gudjohnsen and Henry scored, putting the score at 6-0. Meanwhile, the visitors were getting more and more frustrated with Messi's impeccable play which led to almost every Barcelona goal. They repeatedly tackled him, pushed him to the ground, but the Argentine winger kept on going, taking on Xavi's role of architect. It's no wonder the Spanish midfielder was almost invisible on that night with only a couple of great passes here and there.
Barcelona's line-up: Victor Valdes; Daniel Alves, Rafael Marquez (Martin Caceres, 67th), Gerard Pique, Carles Puyol; Xavi Hernandez, Yaya Toure, Eidur Gudjohnsen (Seydou Keita, 71st); Lionel Messi, Samuel Eto'o (Aleksandr Hleb, 74th), Thierry Henry.
In a match plagued by poor refereeing (for both sides, I might add), it was the defending champions who came out on top thanks to Gonzalo Higuain's brilliant performance. Once again, their opponents took advantage of Madrid's weakness on the left side to open the score five minutes into the game. Winger Eliseu easily got past both Marcelo and Heinze before delivering a low cross into the box, but the ball surprisingly came back to him as Baha's strike hit both Sergio Ramos and the post. With Iker Casillas out of position, Eliseu only had to push the ball into the wide open net. Two minutes later, Marcelo repaired his defensive lapse by making a penetrating run in Malaga's box. His shot was blocked by the goalkeeper, but Higuain didn't miss the rebound to put the score at 1-1. Madrid had most of the possession for the next ten minutes, repeatedly testing Malaga's goalkeeper who gave several huge rebounds. At the 17th minute, Malaga took the lead once again thanks to poor marking by Madrid. At the 36th minute, the home side was rewarded a penalty which was easily converted by Higuain. Tied at 2-2, the Meringues would lose a big piece of their team before half-time when Sergio Ramos was sent off for stepping on an opposing player's chest.
The second half was a bit more subdued as the visitors started to get a bit more possession of the ball while Madrid players only watched them play. Consequently, Malaga took the lead for the third time of the night at the 69th minute via penalty. They didn't have much time to celebrate though because one minute later, Higuain completed his hat-trick with a superb shot at the edge of the box. Finally, the Argentine striker scored the winning goal at the 77th minute on another penalty. It was a rough night for the Madridistas, but they came up with the three points, and that's all that matters.
Real Madrid's line-up: Iker Casillas; Sergio Ramos, Fabio Cannavaro, Gabriel Heinze, Marcelo; Wesley Sneijder (Michele Salgado, h-t), Fernando Gago, Guti, Royston Drenthe (Javier Saviola, 72nd), Rafael Van der Vaart (Mahamadou Diarra, 82th); Gonzalo Higuain.
Barcelona – Valladolid: 6-0
The goal festival continued with Barcelona's confrontation against Valladolid. Samuel Eto'o kept up with his hot streak, scoring four consecutive goals in the first half, all results of great passing by the Blaugrana. Despite a more active approach by Valladolid in the second half, they couldn't hold up to Barca's powerful attacks. Both Gudjohnsen and Henry scored, putting the score at 6-0. Meanwhile, the visitors were getting more and more frustrated with Messi's impeccable play which led to almost every Barcelona goal. They repeatedly tackled him, pushed him to the ground, but the Argentine winger kept on going, taking on Xavi's role of architect. It's no wonder the Spanish midfielder was almost invisible on that night with only a couple of great passes here and there.
Barcelona's line-up: Victor Valdes; Daniel Alves, Rafael Marquez (Martin Caceres, 67th), Gerard Pique, Carles Puyol; Xavi Hernandez, Yaya Toure, Eidur Gudjohnsen (Seydou Keita, 71st); Lionel Messi, Samuel Eto'o (Aleksandr Hleb, 74th), Thierry Henry.
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