Cristiano Ronaldo backheel earns Real late draw

TIL Desk Sports/ Cristiano Ronaldo’s superb backheel late in the game earned Real Madrid a point in a 1-1 La Liga draw with Athletic Bilbao at the Bernabeu stadium on Wednesday. The Portuguese forward flicked Luka Modric’s low drive into the back of the net in the 87th minute with a deft touch, his 24th league goal of the season cancelling out a first-half chipped goal from Inaki Williams for the visitors.

Real were set for defeat until Ronaldo, who also hit the bar with a header early on, struck with his 24th league goal of the season to snatch the draw that left them third on 68 points after 33 games. They are three points behind cross-city rivals Atletico, who play their game in hand at Real Sociedad on Thursday. Barcelona lead the way on 83 points, 12 clear of Atletico.

“I’m not happy with the result, it’s not positive for us. We played well, above all in the first half,” Real coach Zinedine Zidane said. Raul Garcia wasted an excellent chance to double Bilbao’s lead before Ronaldo’s goal, striking the crossbar with Keylor Navas out of position after a scramble in the box. Bilbao came close to earning their first victory at the Bernabeu since 2005 but Ronaldo denied them, finally netting for Real after the hosts wasted a string of chances.