ronaldo fires madrid to super cup glory published: tuesday 12 august 2014, 22.50cet real madrid cf 2-0 sevilla fc cristiano ronaldo scored both goals as the uefa champions league holders added the uefa super cup to their recent trophy haul.
by simon hart from cardiff city stadium
european champions real madrid cf began the new season as they ended the old one – by lifting silverware – as cristiano ronaldo's two goals earned the european champions victory in the uefa super cup against sevilla fc.
• ronaldo opens the scoring on the half-hour mark • ronaldo adds a second goal after half-time • madrid now have 14 major european trophies • ancelotti joins guardiola on three super cups • 30,854 attendance a record for one-off super cup
madrid began with a fearsome-looking lineup as carlo ancelotti fielded gareth bale and ronaldo either side of karim benzema in attack, with new boys james rodríguez and toni kroos in midfield.
with so much quality, it was no surprise they soon took control of the contest. bale, on his return to his home city, came close to the opening goal after 18 minutes when he stretched to meet a james cross at the far post but denis suárez made the block.
after federico fazio had headed a deflected fábio coentrão cross off his goal line, ronaldo broke clear only for beto to save. but ronaldo has scored more liga goals against sevilla than any other side, so it was little surprise that he soon got the better of his compatriot in the sevilla goal.
ronaldo on the right played a crossfield ball to james, who in turn fed bale on the left; the welshman's far-post cross was begging for a connection and ronaldo provided it with a cool volleyed finish.
after daniel carriço had failed to beat iker casillas from close range, ronaldo's second goal soon after the restart killed off the contest. benzema fed the portugal forward on the left and he advanced into the box and shot powerfully across beto, who got a hand to the ball in vain.
unai emery's uefa europa league holders spared their noisy fans further dismay as beto denied james with a brilliant one-handed stop, although iago aspas was also denied a consolation strike by a late casillas save.
reporter's view this was an impressive start by madrid. their front three all looked sharp, with ronaldo's fifa world cup injury problem evidently behind him. further back, new boy toni kroos warrants a mention for his work sitting deep and orchestrating attacks on his first appearance since his metronomic passing helped germany win the world cup. sevilla will take time to adjust to the loss of ivan rakitić, but suárez, his replacement, offered a source of optimism with a lively first appearance.
