VILLARREAL (Spain) • Real Madrid coach Santiago Solari believes losing his star forward Gareth Bale to injury midway through his team's LaLiga match at Villarreal cost his side victory.
The European champions endured a frustrating start to the new year on Thursday as they drew 2-2 at struggling Villarreal and were left seven points behind leaders Barcelona.
"We had the victory in our hands and wanted to kill the game. But they came back and got the equaliser," Solari told Movistar.
"They pressed a lot, were playing at home and needed the points.
"Gareth leaving like that cost us as he had a problem and we missed that counter-attacking edge, and Gareth is a specialist at just that. He got a bang and felt something and was not able to continue."
Former Arsenal midfielder Santi Cazorla gave the home side the lead in the fourth minute of the game which was rescheduled due to Real's participation in last month's Club World Cup. He bent a wonderful shot into the bottom corner of Thibaut Courtois' goal.
But Real struck back three minutes later with a headed goal from Karim Benzema.
Raphael Varane then gave the visitors the lead in the 20th but it was 34-year-old Cazorla, having overcome a terrible run of injuries to resurrect his career in Spain, who had the final say with his second goal.
Real have not won their opening away game of a new year since 2014, and Cazorla's late strike prevented them from going level on points with Sevilla, keeping them in fourth place after 17 games.
Apart from conceding early, Real were impressive in the first half but lost their grip on proceedings after Bale was substituted with a knock.
Ballon d'Or winner Luka Modric, who helped set up the equaliser, followed Bale off the pitch midway through the second half and Villarreal, spurred on by their supporters, showed more intensity to regain control of the play.
Villarreal, who have reached the last 32 of the Europa League despite a dire domestic season, clawed their way out of the relegation zone to 17th in the standings, level on points with 18th-placed Athletic Bilbao.
"This result will give us strength," said Villarreal coach Luis Garcia, who has taken two points from two games since succeeding the sacked Javi Calleja.
"I imagine that every game from now on will be a battle, a war to survive. But hopefully we'll come through it, and this point gives us a big emotional boost."
REUTERS
Luka Modric criticises Ballon d'Or gala snub by Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo Ada Hegerberg's Ballon d'Or award tarnished by 'twerk' request Luka Modric is the first player to win the Ballon D'Or outside of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi since Brazilian great Kaka in 2007.
Modric criticises Messi, Ronaldo for Ballon d'Or gala snub
Juventus defender Leonardo Bonucci has shockingly claimed that teammate Moise Kean must take some of the blame for inciting racist abuse from Cagliari fans during Tuesday's 2-0 win.
Leonardo Bonucci says 'no to racism' after Juventus team-mate
PARIS (AFP) - Arsenal face an uphill battle to progress in the Europa League after a 1-0 defeat by BATE Borisov in the last-32 first leg which saw Alexandre Lacazette sent off on Thursday (Feb 14)..
Arsenal beaten by BATE as Lacazette sent off - worldfootball.net
May 03, 2019 · Jan Vertonghen is set to sit out Tottenham Hotspur's Premier League trip to Bournemouth as he gets over the heavy clash with team-mate Toby Alderweireld that forced him out of the Champions
Vertonghen to see neurologist over head injury - Pulse Nigeria
Luka Modric criticises Ballon d'Or gala snub by Lionel Messi
Crowds flock to Argentine village to pay tribute to footballer Sala Through the morning, mourners gathered for a public vigil in a gymnasium in Progreso, the small farming town in Santa Fe province which Sala left as a teenager to play in Europe.
Crowds flock to Argentine village to pay tribute to
PARIS (AFP) - Cardiff City chairman Mehmet Dalman said on Tuesday (Feb 12) the club will pay the fee for striker Emiliano Sala if they are contractually required to do so.. Read more at
Ligue 1 » News » Cardiff to pay Sala fee if necessary - report
(Reuters) - Manchester City's England forward Raheem Sterling has been awarded The Integrity and Impact Award at this year's BT Sport Industry Awards for speaking out on a range of social issues, including racism. Sterling was recognised for his fight against racism in the sport and for using his platform to call for more action to be taken.
22 1993, The Times, #64598, UK (en)_djvu.txt
Search the history of over 357 billion web pages on the Internet.
315381 10201276550382602 438502351 n - friendzone.fr
Sigurdsson is now the leading Icelandic goalscorer in the Premier League, moving two clear of the 55 scored by former Chelsea player Eidur Sigurdsson double helps Everton sink Cardiff Home
Title cannot soothe PSG's pain in Europe PARIS • Paris Saint-Germain may have clinched their long-expected sixth Ligue 1 title in the past seven seasons, but that triumph cannot mask the French club's shortcomings on the European stage where results have failed to match their huge investments.
Ligue 1 dominance cannot mask PSG's European failure | Free
0 comments:
Post a Comment