27 September 2008
An efficient performance by Real Madrid in gaining 3 points away to Betis on Saturday. The game looked to be heading for a draw when in injury time, Ruud Van Nistelrooy earned the victory with a cool finish.
Madrid actually started the game well in the first half well and on 18 minutes Gabriel Heinze scored from a Van der Vaart free kick. The second half was another matter. Betis came out with all guns blazing and upped the pace of the game considerably. Their pressure led to a penalty which looked generous and resulted in a red card for Marcelo. Sergio Garcia needed two attempts to score after Iker Casillas saved his first effort. Betis continued to put pressure on Madrid. Schuster turned to his subs (Javi Garcia, Miguel Torres and Drenthe) to swing the balance of play and the game eventually opened up with Madrid threatening the Betis goal on a few occasions.
On 81 minutes Drenthe was involved in an incident which led to the expulsion of Sergio Garcia. Through on goal he was impeded and the ref handed out a second yellow to the Betis player. Robben was involved throughout the game but it wasn’t one of his better performances. At times he can hold on to possession for far too long. His compatriot Van der Vaart had a quiet game after his great midweek performance against Sporting Gijon. The game looked to be heading for a draw when Ruud found himself with lots of space to claim the winner.
Thoughts
- Efficient performance but not spectacular. We need to improve but lets not forget that a strong first half of the season last year went a long way to winning us the title. Ideally I would want us to keep possession better.
- Diarra had another good game and he may well go on to emulate Makelele who was a pivotal part of our team during his time at the club… bold statement of course so lets see how it unfolds.
- Schuster not afraid to use the kids and like last season he is probably going to rotate a lot. Good policy to keep the players on their toes in my opinion.
