Cristiano slows Zaragoza down

Zaragoza came roaring out of the boxes and got off to a perfect start. A tackle in midfield led to a swift counterattack culminating in Rodri’s goal in the 6th minute.

Real Zaragoza scraped a point against Real Madrid, and it could easily have been three. The usual suspect was responsible for keeping it down to one - Cristiano Ronaldo, who never allows himself a breather, not even when others are going through the motions and there are bigger fish to fry on the horizon. Rodri put the home side ahead and the Real Madrid star player equalised, in a game which could easily have swung in Zaragoza’s favour after two chances fell to Postiga, which were denied him by referee Undiano, first of all, and then by Real Madrid goalkeeper Diego Rodríguez.
Zaragoza came roaring out of the boxes and got off to a perfect start. A tackle in midfield led to a swift counterattack culminating in Rodri’s goal in the 6th minute. And the hosts remained faithful to their initial strategy, keeping their high line in defence and pressing intensely in midfield.
Real Madrid, kept back by this pressure, resorted to long balls, and this had an adverse effect on the performances of Modric and Kaká, forced into a secondary role.
But just when Real Madrid was looking least dangerous, Cristiano Ronaldo latched on to a rebound just inside the area and drilled low and hard into the bottom left-hand corner in the 18th minute. Marcelo, meanwhile, was playing as in the good old days. At full flow, he is a force to be reckoned with, and this bodes well for the final stretch of the season.
A big change then came, modifying Real Madrid's shape. Khedira, Özil and Di María came on, and Arbeloa, Callejón and Kaká went off. The away side's expectations increased. Özil, however, was virtually anonymous. Not so Di María, who produced a couple of great counterattacks, but it was to no avail. Zaragoza held firm and with great dignity.