Real Madrid snatched three points in a heart-stopping game. Getafe scored the opening goal and Higuain netted the equaliser just before half-time. Albin scored for the visitors close to the end, but Guti drew the score again from a masterly free-kick. The winner came from Higuain's feet two minutes into overtime.
Both sides had several chances on goal at the start of the fixture. Getafe, far from simply focusing on defending, had the first when Soldado sent the ball over the crossbar on the 3-minute mark. A few minutes later, Granero crossed the ball into the box and Soldado defeated Casillas with a header (9').
Marcelo reacted and tried his luck with a long shot in the 11th minute; Van der Vaart failed to find someone to finish off many of his free-kicks; Raul came close to scoring when Marcelo gave him the ball following a great run down the left wing (16’)... Meanwhile, Getafe tried to distance themselves on the scoreboard and Soldado nearly scored in a one-on-one with Casillas, but his shot was off target.
Just when it seemed the Blues were sure to go into half-time with a favourable score, Gonzalo Higuain stepped up, took advantage of a mistake made by the opponent's defence and scored. This counterattack began when Gago clerared the ball, sending it to Raul, who controlled it with his chest and passed it to Higuain.
Robben came on for Van der Vaart in the second half, but had to be replaced by Drenthe 15 minutes later because of an injury. Getafe brought Belenguer on for Mario. Nothing changed much at the start of the last 45 minutes, but Real Madrid had slightly more chances. Ramos and Huntelaar nearly scored on the 50-minute mark, while Getafe focused on playing touch football. Keeper Stojkovic defeated Huntelaar in a one-on-one (71') in just one of many ventures in attack the Whites had in just a few minutes. He was also forced to defeat Higuain, and Belenguer covered his back when Ramos seemed to have vanquished him (79'). Real Madrid kept trying, but Getafe got the upper hand when Albin scored from a counterattack on the 84-minute mark. This could have been a hard blow for the Madridistas, but Guti pulled rank and scored from an impressive free-kick, levelling the score once again.
Moments later, Casquero was tackled inside the box and awarded a penalty, but his strange shot -in the manner of Palenka- was saved by Casillas. The crowd went wild and, during the frenzy, Higuain scored an amazing goal far from the box with his left foot. In the end, Real Madrid earned an amazing victory and are very much alive in the fight for the title.
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