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October 16, 2017

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Ronaldo, Suarez strike again to kickstart season

Real Madrid talisman Cristiano Ronaldo and Barcelona striker Luis Suarez took center stage on Saturday in bailing their teams out with late strikes to silence their critics following slow starts to the season.

Ronaldo shrugged off a glaring miss by snatching a 2-1 win for Real at Getafe with a deadly first-time strike in the 85th minute to claim his first league goal of the season.

The Portuguese missed Real鈥檚 first four league games due to a suspension for pushing a referee and although he scored four times in the Champions League and once in the Spanish Super Cup, his barren spell looked set to continue against Getafe after he spurned an open goal.

Ronaldo, however, had the last word when he buried substitute Isco鈥檚 chipped past beyond Getafe goalkeeper Vicente Guaita, who had turned away a potent shot from the 32-year-old in the first half.

Suarez, meanwhile, headed in Barcelona鈥檚 equalizer in a 1-1 draw at Atletico Madrid and celebrated wildly, taunting the fans behind the goal before rushing to the adjacent stand.

The Uruguayan has faced criticism for his lumbering performances this season, in which he had only scored two goals in eight previous appearances in all competitions.

Suarez rushed back from a knee injury in order to help Uruguay鈥檚 bid to qualify for the World Cup and his form appeared to suffer.

In the previous game against Las Palmas he ripped his shirt off and walked off the pitch before full time in frustration after missing a clear chance to add to the 3-0 scoreline.

He had boosted his confidence by scoring twice for his country against Bolivia to seal its place in next year鈥檚 World Cup in Russia and struck again by appearing at the far post to nod in Sergi Roberto鈥檚 arching cross.

Barcelona tops the standings with 22 points while Real climbed above Atletico into second on 17. Sevilla slid down from second to fourth after losing 0-1 at Athletic Bilbao, suffering an eighth consecutive away defeat to the Basques.


 

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