Espanyol versus Real Madrid – First half – Part 1
The match between Espanyol and Real Madrid started off with a real big bang as Espanyol pushed forward with their first attack of the match inside the first five minutes.
The through ball played for Callejon caught Real Madrid’s defence sleeping and Casillas came out to clear the ball but the Los Blancos goal keeper caught Callejon as the referee spotted towards an Espanyol free kick.
Not only that, the referee also brandished a red card for http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Iker-Casillas-c16815 as Real Madrid’s goalie was the last man and his tackle denied Callejon a goal scoring opportunity.
Jose Mourinho took notice of the situation and thus, he was forced into making Real’s first substitution of the match. The Portuguese manager brought off Angel Di Maria and replaced him with Real Madrid’s second choice goalkeeper Adán in the 4th
minute of the match.
The ensuing set piece, which was taken by Sergio Garcia, was palmed away by Adan http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/AS-Real-c38478 Madrid cleared their lines after a frantic few minutes of the first half.
In the 8th minute of the match, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Sami-Khedira-c32325 found himself with space in front of Espanyol’s goal just outside the home team’s penalty area. The German midfielder didn’t need an invitation to shoot as he tried his luck on Espanyol’s goal.
However, Kameni was up to the task as he tipped the ball away to keep his team on level terms with the visitors.
For the first twenty minutes of the match, Real Madrid were weak with the ball at their feet. The likes of Ozil and Khedira in the center of midfield were wasteful with possession as Espanyol found it easy to dictate the tempo of the match.
In the 19th minute of the first half, Real Madrid surged up field after gaining control of the ball from a mishit Espanyol free kick. The ball fell to http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Cristiano-Ronaldo-c9629, who took on three Espanyol defenders before unleashing a shot on target.
However, the winger’s shot was just wide of the mark as Espanyol resumed play from a goal kick.
Real Madrid Line-up: Casillas, Arbeloa, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Pepe-c29670, Carvalho, Marcelo; Xabi, Khedira, Di Maria, Ozil, Ronaldo; Adebayor
Espanyol Line-up: Kameni, Chica, Amat, Forlin, Galan, Marquez, Verdu, Baena, Luis Garcia, Callejon, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Sergio-c33030 Garcia
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