Real Madrid get the better of Auxerre
Spanish giants Real Madrid left it late on Tuesday night against Auxerre but got the job done with a 1-0 win in UEFA Champions League. Angel Di Maria came off the bench to knock in the winner 9 minutes from time.
The right winger came on in the 2nd half and latched onto a fine cross from Mesut Ozil to earn a win for Real in a match that looked destined to be a frustrating draw.
Just before the end Marcelo made a crucial block from Ireneusz Jelen which could have ended in a late equalizer for the French side. Subsequently Madrid completed their 2nd successive win and another clean sheet in Group
G.
It was Real Madrid who were on the front foot in early proceedings of the match. Auxerre’s goalkeeper Olivier Sorin was in good from and stopped several good shots from Ronaldo and Lassana Diarra.
Following Diara’s shot Real got a corner but despite an inch perfect delivery from Alonso Sami Khedira could not get his header on target and the score remained 0-0.
Gonzalo Higuain was next to have a chance of breaking the dead lock, his long range effort was stopped in the way by Stephane Grichting but Madrid continued to attack Auxerre’s goal without much success. Cristiano Ronaldo was on
the spot to unleash a fierce volley from edge of the box but his shot went wide. The first real glimpse of a chance that Auxerre got was when Marcelo fouled Dariusz Dudka on the edge of Madrid box. Benoit Pedretti did send in a dangerous ball but Delvin Ndinga
budged it wide.
However Madrid did not let up and there was wave after wave of white shirts storming the Auxerre goal. Higuain and Diarra both tried their luck from a distance but Sorin refused to let anything past him and stood firm.
Cristiano Ronaldo was clearly frustrated by the stern resolve of Auxerre side and handled the ball ending in a booking for the winger, soon after he let one fly from a distance but the shot went well wide of the goal. Auxerre finally
got their act together and launched a comeback before the half time break. It was Dudka who stepped up to take the free kick for the French side but could not beat that wall, soon after a close range shot from Pedretti was fumbled by Iker Casillas, but the
home side could not make their chances count.
Dudka was soon at it again and forced the Spanish world cup winning captain Casillas, but the half time whistle came soon after and score remained at 0-0.
In the 2nd half the fit again front man Jelen was sent on for Roy Contout.
Real Madrid though continued where they had left off in the first half, Ronaldo was again the man making all the noise. In the space of 5 minutes he had 3 tries at goal but still could not break through.
Sorin, the French team’s goalkeeper continued to defy Madrid, he parried a fierce driver from Ronaldo and later dived a long way to his right to deflect a free kick from the Portuguese.
Jose Mourinho, Real Madrid’s coach decided to make changes in order to break the dead lock and sent on his 2 summer signings Mesut Ozil and Di Maria. Call it luck or divine intervention but the move paid off handsomely. The 2 men
combined well in the 81st minute to eventually get the winner for Real Madrid.
Ozil delivered a precise ball from the right wing, and the Argentine Di Maria latched onto the volley and smashed it in past Sorin to break the deadlock. Real Madrid now have 2 wins from 2 games in UEFA champions league and are
on 4th spot in Spanish La Liga.
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