Real Madrid leave it late

GettyImages

Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates his brace

Scoring Summary

Real Madrid	Osasuna
Cristiano Ronaldo (25')	Carlos Aranda (7')
Marcelo (44')	Krisztian Vadocz (42')
Cristiano Ronaldo (89')

Match Stats

Real Madrid

Osasuna

31(12)	Shots (on Goal)	17(6)
13	Fouls	15
11	Corner Kicks	3
6	Offsides	1
67%	Time of Possession	33%
1	Yellow Cards	1
0	Red Cards	0
4	Saves	9

Teams

Real Madrid	Osasuna
1 Iker Casillas	1 Ricardo
4 Sergio Ramos	23 Sergio
18 Raúl Albiol	5 Rovérsio
22 Xabi Alonso	3 Nacho Monreal
12 Marcelo	2 César Azpilicueta
2 Álvaro Arbeloa	22 Ruper
8 Kaká	6 Javad Nekounam
24 Esteban Granero	20 Carlos Aranda
5 Fernando Gago	21 Krisztian Vadocz
20 Gonzalo Higuaín	17 Javier Camuñas
9 Cristiano Ronaldo	12 Francisco Juanfran
Substitutes
13 Jerzy Dudek	Francisco Puñal 10
21 Christoph Metzelder	Javier Calleja 19
6 Mahamadou Diarra	Miguel Flaño 4
14 Guti	Masoud Shojaei 8
11 Karim Benzema	Roberto 13
19 Ezequiel Garay	Oier 15
36 Juanfran	Jorge Anaut Galan 16
Substitutions
Guti for Esteban Granero (59)	Masoud Shojaei for Francisco Juanfran (61)
Karim Benzema for Kaká (69)	Miguel Flaño for Rovérsio (69)
Juanfran for Fernando Gago (85)	Javier Calleja for Carlos Aranda (75)
Yellow Cards
Marcelo (72)	Nacho Monreal (73)
· Squads: Real Madrid | Osasuna

Cristiano Ronaldo struck a last-gasp winner as nervy Real Madrid kept their Primera Division hopes alive in dramatic fashion against Osasuna.

Ronaldo headed home his second goal of the game in the 89th minute as Madrid, who twice trailed to battling Osasuna, moved back to within a point of leaders Barcelona with three games remaining.

This was Madrid's 17th win in 18 league encounters at the Bernabeu this season, but they had to do it the hard way after Osasuna went ahead through first-half goals from Carlos Aranda and Krisztian Vadocz.

However, Manuel Pellegrini's men hit back both times through Ronaldo and Marcelo to go into half-time at 2-2 and then, having rode their luck on occasion after the break, claimed the points when Ronaldo netted his 22nd league goal of the season.

With Barcelona winning 4-1 at Villarreal last night, Madrid would have been desperate for a flying start against Osasuna.

It could barely have been worse though as they gifted Osasuna the lead inside seven minutes.

Raul Albiol scuffed an attempted back-pass to Iker Casillas and Aranda nipped in, poked the ball past the outcoming Spain number one, and rolled his shot into an unguarded net.

Madrid responded with a Ronaldo header that went just wide and a close-range Kaka header that visiting goalkeeper Ricardo somehow managed to deflect over.

That was in the 24th minute, but Ricardo was not so successful 60 seconds later as he was beaten by his former Manchester United team-mate Ronaldo, whose low drive from the edge of the box flew inside the near post to level the scores up.

Madrid would have been hoping to kick on from that goal, but they found themselves trailing again just before the interval as Osasuna again broke through a shaky-looking defence.

Aranda, who perhaps should have done better moments previously with a free header that he directed straight at Casillas, neatly turned the ball into Vadocz's path and the Hungary international smashed a half-volley into the near top corner.

Osasuna's lead lasted just two minutes before Madrid equalised for a second time thanks to Marcelo.

The diminutive Brazilian full-back got in between two Osasuna defenders to head Esteban Granero's cross down past Ricardo.

That would have been a big relief for the home side, and they started the second half in determined mood.

Gonzalo Higuain, Ronaldo, Kaka and Granero all had opportunities in the opening 10 minutes, but the Osasuna goal remained unbreached and the visitors then had two great chances to go 3-2 ahead.

Aranda's close-range volley from a corner was parried by Casillas before the loose ball was fired over by the Osasuna number 20.

Then Jose Antonio Camacho's side spurned an incredible opening in the 66th minute.

A ball over the top found two Osasuna players onside with only Casillas to beat.

However, Vadocz opted to pass across the face of goal instead of shooting and the sliding Massoud Shojaei put the ball wide at the far post.

That was a huge let-off for Madrid, and thanks to Ronaldo they managed to take advantage.

It was looking increasingly unlikely though as the home side struggled to find a way through.

That changed a minute from the end however, as Higuain's looping cross fell perfectly for Ronaldo to head home from virtually on the line to send the Bernabeu into delirium.

Ronaldo might have made it 4-2 and claimed his hat-trick soon after that as his low shot struck the near post, but that mattered little to Madrid, who will be hoping the £80million man has some of his magic left for when they face Champions League-chasing Real Mallorca in midweek.