Osasuna 1-3 Real Madrid
- Published
Real Madrid moved back above Barcelona to the top of La Liga by winning at Osasuna in a match overshadowed by an awful injury to Tano Bonnin.
The bottom club's full-back broke his leg in a first-half challenge by Isco.
Cristiano Ronaldo slotted a shot under goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu to put the visitors in front, but Sergio Leon ran clear to chip an equaliser.
Isco then darted on to a loose ball to steer a shot inside the far post, and Lucas Vazquez chipped in a late third.
A few minutes before Isco's goal, Real wing-back Danilo was carried off with an ankle injury, having been caught by David Garcia, Tano's replacement.
Real's victory moved them a point ahead of Barcelona, with two games in hand, hours after Luis Enrique's side had gone top by winning 6-0 at Alaves.
It was an untidy performance from Real, who looked uncomfortable with the 3-5-2 formation that manager Zinedine Zidane chose to go with at first.
They looked far better when they reverted to their usual 4-3-3 set-up after Danilo was replaced by James Rodriguez.
Keylor Navas, the visitors' keeper, had to be sharp on several occasions, getting down to push aside Fausto Tienza's deflected shot when the game was goalless, and saving well as on-loan Newcastle forward Emmanuel Riviere fired at goal on the turn just before half-time.
Navas was on form again shortly after half-time as goalscorer Leon cut in from the right to hit a left-footed curler towards the far corner, and dived full length to his left to save the striker's 20-yard shot in the final 10 minutes.
Sirigu, the goalkeeper Osasuna signed on loan from Paris St-Germain in January, reacted brilliantly at the other end to stop Karim Benzema at point-blank range in the first half, and prevented Ronaldo getting his second as he ran clear in the final 20 minutes.
Sadly, though, the game will be remembered chiefly for the injury to Tano, in what looked nothing worse than a committed challenge by Isco.
It was clear immediately that the defender had broken his leg, and both sets of players were visibly upset by the incident.
Osasuna, on their third coach of the season in Petar Vasiljevic, look certain to be relegated at the end of the season, but can take encouragement from a spirited performance in defeat.
- Published6 February 2017
- Published14 February 2017