Thursday, August 8, 2013

Real Madrid 3-1 Chelsea: Mourinho's Madrid reunion falls flat as Ronaldo clinches cup for los Blancos


The Chelsea boss could not send one final parting shot in his former club's direction, as a double from Ronaldo and a Marcelo opener sent the Spanish side on its way to victory
 Real Madrid has won the Guinness International Champions Cup thanks to a 3-1 victory over Chelsea in the final at Sun Life Stadium in Miami on Wednesday night.

Marcelo opened the scoring after a quarter of an hour following a strong start from the Spansh side, only for Ramires to restore parity within moments with a cool finish.

But Ronaldo soon took matters into his own hand, blasting an exquisite free kick home after 30 minutes, before heading home the clincher early in the second half.

And there was simply no way back for Chelsea after that, as Madrid took the sting out of the game in the time that remained to comdemn

Jose Mourinho to defeat against his former team.

Madrid was quick off the blocks, with its first sight on goal coming after only three minutes, when Luka Modric released Karim Benzema down the left for a shot that tester Petr Cech at his near post.

And after a series of warnings from Madrid, Marcelo would strike the killer blow in the 14th minute, running goalside of Ramires into the box and slotting a low finish into the right side.

But against the run of play, Chelsea was level barely two minutes after the restart, with Ramires redeeming himself by bursting through the Madrid center backs and lobbing Iker Casillas with a composed finish.

Madrid was not daunted by the setback, however, and continued to pile forward in the Chelsea half, with the English side struggling to gather any attacking momentum of its own.

And just past the half-hour mark, los Blancos would make their superiority count once again. Ronaldo, after he was fouled 25 yards from goal, took responsibility for the free kick, and smashed a wonderful effort in off the underside of the bar.

Chelsea though, began to shake off its shackles as the half drew to a close. Frank Lampard turned superbly into a 20-yard drive, which was parried with equal skill by Casillas, who was quick to the rebound ahead of Romelu Lukaku.

And the Blues carried that momentum into the second half, with Eden Hazard nearly drawing them level after a stunning run past two players and a stinging shot that forced the very best out of Casillas.

Kevin De Bruyne was next to try his luck, getting his head to a corner at the near post, but Casillas was once again well positioned to tip the ball over the bar.

However, Chelsea could not make the most of its positivity, and with 56 minutes on the clock, was made to pay at the other end when a defensive mix-up allowed Ronaldo to steal in unmarked to head home an Isco cross from six yards out.

The goal took a lot of the sting out of proceedings, and Madrid, in the driving seat began to slow play down in a bid to stifle hopes of a Chelsea comeback.

Mourinho's men failed to seriously test Casillas in the time that remained, and in fact, it was Carlo Ancelotti's men who could have added further gloss to the scoreline, with Angel Di Maria coming close with a pair of volleys, before having a late goal disallowed.

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