Real Madrid 4-1 Real Sociedad. A calm afternoon at the Bernabéu

Real Madrid reacted well to Cristiano Ronaldo's absence and easily found a way to beat Real Sociedad by 4-1, this Saturday afternoon at the Santiago Bernabéu. James Rodríguez, Sergio Ramos and Karim Benzema with a double, made sure that the 3 points were going to stay at home, as they all added their name to the scoresheet.

Without the reigning World Player of The Year, Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid took on Real Sociedad at the Santiago Bernabéu hoping to keep their lead at the summit of La Liga secure. Coming off a quite dramatic win against Cordoba just a week ago, Ancelotti knew how important it would be to get the 3 points today and his men basically didn't fail on him, delivering the fans a 4-1 home win. Real Sociedad took the lead still inside the 1st minute of the game, but the Merengues turned the game around through goals from James Rodríguez, Sergio Ramos and Karim Benzema (with a brace). Next Wednesday, Real Madrid takes on Sevilla in another La Liga fixture where they still won't be able to count with a suspended Cristiano Ronaldo, who should only return to the team a few days later, in time to spearhead his side's assault to the Calderón in an exciting clash against Atletico Madrid, scheduled for February 7.

Real Madrid 4-1 Real Sociedad - Goals and highlights:

David Moyes' side have been a bogey team for La Liga's giants this season. "La Real" have made light work of the three biggest teams in Spain, with victories against last year's champions Atletico Madrid and wins vs Barcelona, as well as a 4-2 comeback win over Real Madrid, earlier in the season.

With that result still fresh in the minds of the Madrid players, it would be fair to assume they would be looking for revenge coming into today's game, but with merely 38 seconds played, they found themselves behind. Youngster Aritz Elustondo buried a free header in the box after an early corner, silencing the Bernabéu. It was yet another set piece mishap from a Real Madrid side that has struggled immensely with them this campaign...

The hosts immediately shifted into high gear and a response was not far off, with James Rodriguez tying the game up in the 3rd minute, through a fantastic header that went into the top corner and past the outstretched arms of Geronimo Rulli, Real Sociedad's goalkeeper this afternoon. An excellent cross from Marcelo, who along with Isco and Karim Benzema were brilliant this Saturday, found the head of the Colombian, who then expertly placed the ball into the roof of the net.

Real Madrid would continue to press, but Sociedad wouldn't merely sit back and they started looking far more adventurous than usual. However, Ancelotti's men would finally get ahead on the 37th minute, when Sergio Ramos riffled a volley into the top of the net from near the six yard box, after Karim Benzema's initial effort was saved.

Gareth Bale, initially poised to take the lead in Ronaldo's absence, again struggled in this one. His miss with an open goal brought on more boos from a Bernabéu crowd that already put him under the spotlight for his indifferent performances throughout this season.

In the second half Bale would be much better and his assist to Benzema after a neat one-two on the wing was exactly the type of move that made him such an talismanic figure last year for the Merengues. It was an easy tap in for the Frenchman in the end, making it 3-1 to Real Madrid. At this point they were coasting...

The game mellowed out a bit after that third goal from the hosts, with both teams seemingly resigned to the result. Still, the best moment of the game would occur in the 76th minute, when a combined move from Isco and Benzema at the edge of the box resulted in a rocket of a shot from the striker into the top corner. Benzema's brilliantly curled shot was completely untouchable, and the entire move was a draw-dropping piece of work from two of the best players on the day.

Real Madrid held on to win 4-1, avenging the loss from earlier this year. Next up however, will surely be a couple harder tests, first against Sevilla at the Bernabéu and a few days later against Atletico Madrid at the Vicente Calderón. Cristiano Ronaldo will return from suspension precisely in time to play on that electrifying derby match-up.

Author: Terrance Ross

Real Madrid line-up vs Real Sociedad:

Goalkeeper: Iker Casillas
Defenders: Marcelo, Sergio Ramos, Varane, Carvajal
Midfielders: Illarramendi, Kroos, Isco
Attackers: James Rodríguez, Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema.

Match stats provided by www.ronaldo7.net
Real Madrid	vs	Real Sociedad
4	Goals	1
22	Shots	4
12	Shots on goal	2
10	Corner kicks	3
9	Fouls commited	11
3	Yellow cards	1
0	Red cards	0
65%	Ball possession	35%

Cristiano Ronaldo next game will be for La Liga against Atletico Madrid, on the 7th of February of 2015. In the meanwhile, you can watch Real Madrid vs Sevilla, Barcelona vs Villarreal, Southampton vs Swansea City, Arsenal vs Aston Villa, and Werder Bremen vs Herta Berlin, all matches provided from our soccer streaming game pages.

Real Madrid next game:
Real Madrid vs Sevilla kick-off time (04-02-2015):

Jakarta (Indonesia) | GMT+6: 01:45
Spain (Madrid) | GMT+1: 20:45
Portugal and England (Lisbon/London) | GMT+0: 19:45
Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) | GMT-4: 16:45
New York (United States) | GMT-5: 14:45
Los Angeles (United States) | GMT-8 11:45
Beijing (China) | GMT+7: 02:45

Sources: ronaldo7.net / realmadrid.com / espnfc.com / dailymail.co.uk

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