new Delhi: A solitary wonder goal from Arjen Robben was enough for Real Madrid to labour past out-of-sorts Villarreal.
Beginning the night on equal points (29), an impressive Real Madrid featuring two new signings in the starting line-up would edge out an impressive, albeit somewhat short result against a Villarreal that would fight until the death for a goal.
Both Casillas and Diego Lopez would be required to make important saves to keep their sides in the match and an open second half would keep the match in the balance but a brilliant goal in the 31st minute by Arjen Robben would prove to be the decisive element in determining the final result.
New Year, New Faces
The first of match the 2009 season for Los Blancos and the Yellow Submarine also saw Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Lassana 'Lass' Diarra earn their first starts for Real Madrid.
The much-hyped debuts of the young Dutch ace and 'the next Makelele' were the buzz of the Bernabeu as a Real Madrid side that featured some now-healthy faces faced off against a Villarreal squad that, having never won on Real’s pitch, was eager to reverse their historically poor record in the Spanish capitol.
The match, however, began with history destined to repeat itself. From the first minute, Los Blancos were the clear favourites, dominating possession and probing through the Villarreal defence.
The first opportunity came for Los merengues by way of a nicely weighted through ball from Gago to the feet of Sergio Ramos. The marauding right back unleashed a blistering shot to the near post, which former Madrid goalkeeper Diego Lopez was able to push away for a corner.
It seemed that Villarreal would have it all to do as Madrid dominated the opening minutes of play, holding onto possession and quickly winning it back off of missed opportunities as Gago and Lass showed their tackling quality in the midfield.
The French newcomer was especially impressive in his distribution of the ball after regaining possession. Huntelaar also showed some very impressive touches, most impressively a graceful pirouette in bringing down a long ball deftly onto his toe.
Madrid’s second gilt edged opportunity came in the 11th minute through mercurial winger Arjen Robben, as Lass found the streaking Dutchman whose shot deflected off of a Villarreal defender and pinged off of the crossbar.
Villarreal would fight valiantly to shift the momentum of the match in their favour, fighting hard for the ball in midfield with some physical play.
But the goal would inevitably arrive for the home side. In a brilliant switch of play by Lass that saw the ball drift all the way from the left flank to the right, Robben cut inside across the face of goal.
Leaving three defenders in his wake, the Dutchman unleashed a curling shot that found its way into the top-left corner, leaving Diego Lopez diving for air. 1-0 to Real Madrid.
Villarreal would look for the goal immediately upon the restart of play in a move up the middle as Marcos Senna found Robert Pires.
The Frenchman blasted a shot to Casillas’ back post, but the Spain No. 1’s cat-quick save preserved the scoreline. On the ensuing corner, Robert Pires tested Casillas from the by-line with a delivery that could have been picked out of the back of the net if not for an instinctive slap from Casillas.
Madrid would regain its composure as Huntelaar was denied his debut goal thanks to a prodigious save from Diego Lopez. Showing off his deft touch again, the Dutch striker controlled a Sergio Ramos cross on his chest with impressive composure, but his attempt to lightly pass the ball into the goal was swatted away by the Madrid youth product.
The second goal was not to come and the first 45 minutes would see Los Blancos take a 1-0 advantage into the dressing room.
The Yellow Submarine surfaces
After a halftime talking-to by Manuel Pellegrini, the second half would see Villarreal finally come out to play. Substituting Llorente for an anonymous Nihat, Villarreal looked to push up in attack and test the Madrid defence. The substitution proved to be an important spark for the Villarreal attack as Llorente would test Casillas in the 52nd minute with a blistering shot, but the Saint would push the ball away with a diving save.
The ball continued to spend its time in Madrid’s half of the pitch as the Yellow Submarine searched for opportunities, looking for openings through the Madrid defence.
Juande Ramos would shuffle his deck in the 55th minute as Huntelaar would have to wait for his debut goal and Drenthe was be given a chance, but Villarreal would continue to dominate the match and Casillas would be called upon to bailout Los Blancos with some impressive stops to save Madrid’s lead. Lass would begin to show his value with important tackles on Marcos Senna and excellent distribution of the ball, much to the pleasure of the Bernabeu crowd.
The match began to open up in the 66th minute and both goalkeepers would be called upon to earn their wages. Casillas would provide his most impressive save of the match as a venomous Giuseppe Rossi header would be pushed up over the bar. Diego Lopez would next have to employ himself to save a shot from Sneijder.
Rossi would be denied again ten minutes later with a free shot that Casillas would trap without many problems and at the other end, Sergio Ramos would be denied in front of goal by good defending by Gonzalo.
The last ten minutes of the match were marked with chances for both squads and some somewhat frenetic defending, but Real Madrid would hold on to the clean sheet and take the full three points. An important win for Los Blancos against a difficult Villarreal side and, depending on the result in the Sevilla-Osasuna match, one that could see them finish the weekend in third place.
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