københavn bow to madrid and two-goal ronaldo published: wednesday 2 october 2013, 22.51cet
real madrid cf 4-0 fc københavn
cristiano ronaldo took his group b tally to five goals, ángel di maría getting the other two, as the nine-time winners continued their serene progress.
by paul bryan from santiago bernabéu
two more goals for cristiano ronaldo helped real madrid cf take control of group b, with ángel di maría adding another two to see off the challenge of fc københavn.
following a sprightly start from ståle solbakken's visitors, the hosts hit their stride and never looked back after ronaldo broke the deadlock with his 25th goal in 21 uefa champions league appearances. his 26th followed after the interval to subdue a københavn team who conceded twice more to di maría in the last 20 minutes.
although enduring a run of two wins in 11 games, the matchday one draw against juventus had led solbakken to predict his side could "cause madrid a fright". with carlo ancelotti's men losing here to club atlético de madrid at the weekend, københavn strove to take advantage of any home uncertainty from the off.
despite their 6-1 stroll at galatasaray aş two weeks ago, madrid took time to find their fluency, although the alert luka modrić created a clear chance. as would become a common sight during the first half, marcelo – making his first uefa champions league outing in a year – latched onto a looping pass from the croatian down the left before crossing for benzema to head wide.
the modrić-marcelo combination helped provide madrid's opener in the 21st minute, the brazilian's centre being missed by goalkeeper johan wiland, leaving ronaldo to nod in his fourth uefa champions league goal in two matches. the nine-time european cup winners kept up the pressure but, with daniel braaten drawing a save from iker casillas, the danish champions remained in the contest. indeed, rúrik gíslason's header from a nicolai jørgensen corner hit the underside of madrid's crossbar, dropping for modrić to clear off the line.
madrid regrouped at half-time and di maría and daniel carvajal each sent efforts wide after the restart before a huge roar from the home supporters heralded a spectacular second moments later. racing into the area, di maría found benzema who flicked back into the path of the argentinian. as he reached the goal line, di maría threw his right leg behind his left to lift a cross back for ronaldo, who headed in.
now in the mood to entertain, madrid poured forward and quickly added a third, di maría charging onto benzema's pass and unleashing a powerful effort that flew inside wiland's left-hand post. di maría took advantage of a defensive lapse to make it four while casillas saved from christián bolaños and fanendo adi to ensure københavn would leave spain without the consolation of a goal.
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