Madrid: A goal each from Karim Benzema, Kaka, and Angel di Maria was enough for Real Madrid to defeat Villarreal 3-0 in La Liga action at Santiago Bernabeu this evening.
Jose Mourinho's side came rapidly out of the blocks at the start of the game and quickly established a very high tempo in the match. They managed to get the ball in the Villarreal net within 3 minutes, but Sergio Ramos' headed goal was rightfully judged as offside.
It took just three minutes for the hosts to strike again, and this time it counted. Di Maria found space on the halfway line and drove a glorious pass over the top of the Villarreal defence for Benzema, who took the ball down with his chest and cheekily clipped the ball over the on-rushing Diego Lopez.
Madrid struck again six minutes later when Benzema gave the ball into the feet of Kaka on the edge of the Villarreal box, and with his back to goal, the Brazilian swivelled round and drove the ball into the bottom corner with his left foot.
The home side heaped further misery on Juan Carlos Garrido's men on the half hour mark. Villarreal had a set-piece in the Real Madrid half, but the hosts cleared and counter attacked at tremendous pace through Marcelo down the left hand side, who picked out Benzema in the middle, the Frenchman then slipped a lovely pass through for Di Maria and the winger shuffled the ball onto his left foot before calmly slotting home.
In front of an expectant Santiago Bernabeu crowd, the second half was played to a different formula as Madrid took their foot off the gas and allowed Villarreal more possession on the ball. A cagey match then ensued, with challenges going in thick and fast in the midfield area.
The visitors enjoyed extended periods of time on the ball in the second 45 minutes, but failed to create any concrete chances. The closest they came was from a speculative shot just outside the box from Mario that Iker Casillas managed to parry away to safety.
This result puts Real Madrid above arch rivals Barcelona into second place in La Liga on 22 points. Villarreal find themselves precariously above the relegation zone in 17th place on seven points.
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