Zidane praises Ronaldo’s act of unselfishness in fifth win
Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane praised Cristiano Ronaldo’s “wonderful gesture” after he gave up the chance of a hat-trick in the 4-0 win over Alaves.
Ronaldo could have scored his third of the game when Real won a late penalty, but instead he let Karim Benzema take it for a moraleboosting goal.
Benzema stepped up to score his fourth of the La Liga campaign after earlier setting up two of his side’s goals.
“I’m very happy with Ronaldo’s gesture,” Zidane said.
“This is a team game and it was a wonderful gesture.” Benzema’s backheel set up his Portuguese team-mate’s first and then played in Gareth Bale after the break, with Lucas Vazquez setting up Ronaldo’s second. “Cristiano showed true team spirit with Karim, who really deserved a goal,” Vazquez said. “I’m delighted for Karim because he’s a phenomenal player.”
Real goalkeeper Keylor Navas added: “None of us was surprised by Cristiano’s gesture because we know what type of person he is.” Ronaldo has now scored eight goals in his past four Real appearances, and 299 in the Spanish top flight. Bale was impressive in only his second start in five games, hitting the crossbar and winning the late penalty. His goal came 28 seconds after the restart, Real’s quickest second-half goal since 2004.
Third-placed Real are 14 points behind leaders Barcelona, who beat Girona 6-1 on Saturday.
RESULTS
Real Madrid 4-0 Alaves, Barcelona 6-1 Girona, Celta Vigo 2-0 Eibar, Leganes 0-0 Las Palmas