{"id":79459,"date":"2015-01-05T12:58:41","date_gmt":"2015-01-05T12:58:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=79459"},"modified":"2015-01-05T12:58:41","modified_gmt":"2015-01-05T12:58:41","slug":"valencia-end-real-madrids-22-match-unbeaten-run","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=79459","title":{"rendered":"Valencia end Real Madrid’s 22-match unbeaten run"},"content":{"rendered":"

Real Madrid’s club record 22-match winning run was ended by Nicolas Otamendi’s fine header as Valencia came from behind to secure a famous victory.<\/p>\n

Cristiano Ronaldo’s penalty put Real in front, his 33rd goal of the season.<\/p>\n

But Valencia made it 1-1 seven minutes into the second half through Antonio Barragan’s deflected shot.<\/p>\n

Otamendi then powered the ball in from a corner but Madrid stayed top of La Liga thanks to Barcelona’s 1-0 defeat to David Moyes’s Real Sociedad.<\/p>\n

It was Real’s first defeat since they lost to city rivals and La Liga champions Atletico Madrid on 13 September.<\/p>\n

The result lifted Valencia, beaten just once at home all season, into the Champions League places.<\/p>\n

\"Cristiano<\/strong><\/p>\n

Cristiano Ronaldo’s early penalty was his 26th league goal of the season<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Carlo Ancelotti’s side would not have envisaged that scenario when they took an early lead through Ronaldo.<\/p>\n

After Gareth Bale had been fouled, a free-kick from Tony Kroos was flicked on by Bale against the arm of on-loan Manchester City striker Alvaro Negredo.<\/p>\n

Ronaldo converted from the spot but then missed an excellent chance to double Real’s lead when he rounded goalkeeper Diego Alves but, from a tight angle, shot into the side netting.<\/p>\n

Valencia had five players booked in a niggly first half but struck a post through a deflected Andre Gomes shot in stoppage time.<\/p>\n

And they were the better side in the second half, levelling when former Liverpool player Barragan scored his first league goal for the club with a shot which was diverted past Iker Casillas by defender Pepe.<\/p>\n

Bale was then denied by an excellent Otamendi tackle at the other end before the Argentina international won it with a towering header with 25 minutes to go.<\/p>\n

Negredo impressed for Valencia, who could have spared themselves some anxious late moments, notably when Isco’s close-range header was saved by Alves, had Barragan not wasted another excellent chance when he shot wide with just Casillas to beat.<\/p>\n

Holders Real will now be looking to bounce back against their local rivals in the first leg of their Copa del Rey last-16 tie on Wednesday night, when Fernando Torres could make his first appearance since re-joining Atletico on loan.<\/p>\n

Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti: <\/strong><\/p>\n

“There were important points of the match where we didn’t take our chances, but as I’ve said in football this happens. You can’t always be efficient up front.<\/p>\n

“I don’t think it will affect the team. It has happened after 22 victories.<\/p>\n

“The season is very long and we are well-positioned in La Liga and have a lot of competitions.<\/p>\n

“This won’t affect us because we know all the things we have done well until now.”<\/p>\n

\"Alvaro<\/p>\n

On-loan Manchester City striker Alvaro Negredo played against his former club<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"Cristiano<\/p>\n

Ronaldo missed an excellent chance to give Real a 2-0 lead<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"Antonio<\/p>\n

Antonio Barragan spent time at Liverpool earlier in his career but didn’t make a Premier League appearance<\/p>\n

–<\/p>\n

Source: BBC Sport<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

va<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Real Madrid’s club record 22-match winning run was ended by Nicolas Otamendi’s fine header as Valencia came from behind to secure a famous victory. Cristiano Ronaldo’s penalty put Real in front, his 33rd goal of the season. But Valencia made it 1-1 seven minutes into the second half through Antonio Barragan’s deflected shot. Otamendi then […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":79462,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[29,3],"class_list":["post-79459","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-dr-mahamudu-bawumia","tag-ghana-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79459","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=79459"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79459\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/79462"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=79459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=79459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=79459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}