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Fans of Los Blancos had waved red cards
early in the match in protest at recent
decisions they believe have gone against
their team, including in last weekend's
goalless game at Atletico, when they saw
several penalty appeals turned down.
"Corruption in the Federation" was the
message and, whether it was a
coincidence or not, Madrid were
awarded a penalty here as Luka Modric
went down late in the game. That
allowed Ronaldo to score, albeit via a
rebound, to give Real all three points.
Earlier, Malaga had twice come back into
the game to cancel out goals from Karim
Benzema and Casemiro, the promoted
side making light of their precarious
position in the relegation zone to hand
Los Blancos another complicated
afternoon at their famous home.
"Real Madrid are devastating, but at the
Bernabeu they give you a chance,"
former Blancos legend and current
Malaga boss Michel said before the game
and his side almost produced a shock by
proving his words to be correct.
Away from home, Zidane's side often
take advantage of the extra space to kill
off their rivals, but they have struggled to
break down visiting sides at the
Bernabeu this term, drawing with
Valencia and Levante in La Liga \(plus
Tottenham in the Champions League)
and also losing to Betis.
Malaga saw what looked like a perfectly
good goal ruled out just before half-time
and on a different day, could have left
with a draw or even more. In the end,
the introduction of Modric proved key as
the Croatia midfielder won the penalty,
Cristiano converted the rebound and
Real fans went home happy in the end.
However, this should have been a
routine win for the home side. On a
weekend when league leaders Barcelona
will be in action against second-placed
Valencia at Mestalla, Madrid were
expected to negotiate the visit of Malaga
with relative ease.
But unlike last season, Zidane's side are
struggling to finish off these games and
even with players missing \(Keylor Navas,
Sergio Ramos, Gareth Bale and Marco
Asensio were all out, while Modric
started on the bench), the champions
possess enough quality within their
ranks to be winning these matches more
comfortably.
The title continues to look difficult, even
if Barca fail to win at Mestalla on Sunday,
but Madrid live to fight another day in La
Liga, while Zidane will have been happy
to see the first league goals at home for
both Benzema and Ronaldo in this one.
Significant improvement is needed,
however, and soon - or La Liga will be
out of their reach before Christmas.