Malmo vs. Real Madrid: Score and Reaction from 2015 Champions League
Cristiano Ronaldo edged one step closer to Real Madrid's outright all-time goalscoring record on Wednesday as he led Los Merengues to a 2-0 victory over 10-man Malmo with his 322nd and 323rd goals for the club.
Hosts Malmo trailed by just a single goal until the final minutes of the fixture, but a late red card for left-back Yoshimar Yotun opened the chance for Ronaldo to clinch his second of the game and seal the three points.
Ronaldo now sits just a single goal away from surpassing Raul's record of 323 goals for Real Madrid.
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Isco found the Portugal captain in space to net Wednesday's opener in the 29th minute. That strike was also the Real talisman's 500th career goal for club and country, not to mention his 66th in the Champions League, tying him with Raul in Europe, a record he would later go on to beat.
Eurosport provided a breakdown of the superstar's sensationally prolific tally:
With Ronaldo and Benzema reigning up front, Real manager Rafa Benitez won't have been too worried about his attack, but a centre-back pairing of Raphael Varane and Nacho perhaps warranted some concern in defence.
In the absence of injured pair Sergio Ramos and Pepe, however, Real's remaining stalwarts did their bit to keep Malmo's forces at bay, with the Swedish hosts only really threatening in the second half.
Keylor Navas started in goal for Los Blancos and was rarely called into action during the match's opening exchanges, but he was equal to the rare opportunities Malmo managed to find their mark.
The hosts just fell short of a spotless 30 minutes, though, as Isco spotted an unmarked Ronaldo through on goal with Malmo No. 1 Johan Wiland, but beIN Sports' Tancredi Palmeri heaped praise on another playmaker:
Ronaldo made no mistake with his chance and coolly slotted his shot to the right of Wiland, at which point the Real Madrid man could set his sights on matching Raul's club record.
However, while Real enjoyed the greater share of attempts at goal in the opening 45 minutes, it was Malmo who were making the most of their chances, matching the visitors for shots on target at half-time, per WhoScored.com.
Not for the first time this season, Real produced a myriad of openings in front of goal, but Malmo's Wiland proved a difficult man to outwit, particularly for a Ronaldo looking to carve his name further into football history.
More worryingly for Real, it was around this point the Swedes started to gather more confidence of their own. Markus Rosenberg saw a header just miss Navas' net, which AS thought might have deserved an equaliser:
That strike would never come, though, and the 79th-minute sending off of Yotun just about dusted off any chance of an upset for the home outfit, who could be pleased at keeping the deficit down to just one goal.
That was until substitute Lucas Vazquez found space down the right flank to skirt a ball inside, with Ronaldo lurking too close to the Malmo goal not to score. His delicately converted strike means he matches Raul's astonishing Real Madrid record, as confirmed by the Champions League:
Real Madrid continue their pace atop Group A as a result of Wednesday's win, but dark horses Paris Saint-Germain sit alongside Los Blancos on six points apiece following their 3-0 victory over Shakhtar Donetsk.
Benitez's side travels to the French capital on October 21 for the first of its two back-to-back fixtures against Laurent Blanc's Ligue 1 giants, two matches that are sure to decide who tops the pool.
That being said, the Spanish giants have a more pressing fixture on their horizon as they get ready to make the short trip to Atletico Madrid for a massive derby fixture on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Malmo's chances of making it past the group stage look even slimmer after failing to claim a point from their first two outings, with Shakhtar looking like their only chance of changing that pattern.
Post-Match Reaction
Having achieved the incredible on Wednesday evening, it was no surprise to see Ronaldo was the talk of the town in Europe after matching Raul's Real Madrid scoring record.
Even less surprising was Benitez's statement regarding his desire to see the player's form continue so that Los Blancos' success may live on with Ronaldo's spearheading their assault:
It's inevitable that Ronaldo will go on to break Raul's tally and one day soon establish himself as Real's most prolific star in an official sense, although it's clear his manager is already a huge admirer.
