Football: Real Madrid fight back

A seventh straight victory in all competitions left the champions 10 points behind leaders Barcelona.

MADRID:
Real Madrid woke from their slumbers with a three-goal blast at the start of the second half as they came back to beat lowly Real Mallorca 5-2 in La Liga.

Third from bottom Mallorca twice went in front with headers against a seemingly distracted Madrid at the Bernabeu before the hosts rallied. Cristiano Ronaldo, Luka Modric and Gonzalo Higuain, with his second of the game, netted in a six-minute spell and substitute Karim Benzema notched a fifth goal at the end to leave coach Jose Mourinho’s side in second place with 61 points and 10 games left.


A seventh straight victory in all competitions left the champions 10 points behind leaders Barcelona. “In the first-half we lacked intensity but we were brilliant in the second,” said Madrid director Emilio Butragueno. “The changes by the coach made the team much more offensive.”

Published in The Express Tribune, March 18th, 2013.
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