Villarreal looked to have scored first after a mix-up between Pepe and Iker Casillas allowed Marco Ruben to chip in a shot from 30-yards out, but the linesman flagged Ruben for an apparent foul.
Villarreal Vs. Real Madrid: Ronaldo One Goal From Tying La Liga Record As Madrid Lead 2-0 At Halftime
The match woke up in the 16th minute. Giuseppe Rossi made a tremendous run through the Madrid defense, but his cross was deflected out for a corner thanks to a timely sliding challenge from Pepe. On the subsequent corner, Madrid struck on the counter attack after Kaká found Marcelo streaking down the left wing with a ton of space. Marcelo settled the ball and chipped a shot past Villarreal keeper Diego Lopez to put Madrid up 1-0.
Minutes later after Kaká was taken down outside the Yellow Submarine box, Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 37th goal of the season off a clinical free kick. Hard not see Ronaldo at least equalizing the single-season Spanish top flight record of 38 goals today or next week at this point considering his ridiculous run of form in the past couple weeks.
MARCA, the Madrid-based sports tabloid who awards the Pichichi Trophy to the top goal scorer in La Liga, has Ronaldo with 38 goals, but the league has him with 37. There’s a disputed goal from early in the season that the league credits to Pepe, while the tabloid credits it to Ronaldo. I’m going to go with what the league says if you don’t mind.
If the result stands, Villarreal's hopes of catching Valencia for third place are finished.
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