Tuesday, 1 December 2015

Shakhtar Donetsk 3-4 Real Madrid

Shakhtar Donetsk 3-4 Real Madrid: Los Blancos survive late comeback to edge seven-goal thriller

 Shakhtar Donetsk 3-4 Real Madrid: Los Blancos survive late comeback to edge seven-goal thriller 

Real Madrid clinched top spot in Champions League Group A thanks to an enthralling, Cristiano Ronaldo-inspired 4-3 win over Shakhtar Donetsk.

Ronaldo opened the scoring after 18 minutes, turning Gareth Bale's lob across goal over the line, before teeing up Luka Modric to smash home a second just after half-time.

Shakhtar needed a win and a favour from Malmo against Paris Saint-Germain in order to keep their chances of reaching the knockout rounds alive but a fine third goal from Dani Carvajal appeared to end any hopes of a comeback.

Ronaldo steered in his second and Madrid's fourth after some more good work from Bale to cap an impressive display, though Alex Teixeira got a goal back from the penalty spot, before Dentinho's header and Teixeira's clever finish gave Shakhtar hope.







Madrid saw out a victory to help banish memories of their Clasico thrashing by Barcelona, although the loss of Raphael Varane to injury will come as a blow in what was otherwise a largely encouraging 90 minutes for the under-fire Rafael Benitez.

Subdued in the Clasico, Ronaldo looked determined to make amends and fired over the crossbar as early as the second minute to signal his intentions.

Madrid were comfortably on top and took advantage with 18 minutes played. 

Bale raced onto Modric's pass and lofted a square ball over the onrushing Andriy Pyatov to the far post, where Ronaldo arrived to nod the ball over the line despite Yaroslav Rakitskiy's best efforts.

Pyatov reacted well to spurn Ronaldo before the break but Benitez's side looked comfortable with their one-goal lead.

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