BARCELONA – Cristiano Ronaldo struck late to give Real Madrid a 2-1 victory in the ‘Clasico’ of the Spanish football league and ruin Barcelona’s 39-game unbeaten run in a tense game overshadowed by debatable refereeing decisions on Saturday.
Gerard Pique headed in a corner to give leaders Barcelona a deserved lead after 56 minutes but Karim Benzema’s acrobatic volley levelled for the visitors who were lucky to avoid conceding a penalty in the first half.
Real captain Sergio Ramos was also fortunate to escape with a yellow card from referee Alejandro Jose Hernandez in the second half although the defender was eventually sent off in the 83rd minute.
Hernandez also ruled out a headed goal by Gareth Bale.
Barcelona failed to capitalise on their numerical advantage in the closing stages and went 2-1 behind in the 85th minute when Ronaldo chested down a high cross from Bale and fired the ball in at the near post.
“Winning here is a huge prize for all our players because they put in an enormous performance,” Real coach Zinedine Zidane told a news conference after handing Barca their first defeat in any competition since February 2015.
“I’m very happy because it’s not easy to win here, few teams win here.”
Barcelona have 76 points with seven matches to play, seven ahead of third-placed Real. Atletico Madrid are six points off the pace after Antoine Griezmann hit two goals in their 5-1 rout of Real Betis. (Reuters)
