As the island braced itself for hurricane strength winds, CD Tenerife charged into the face of the oncoming Real Madrid storm. In the end they were ground down for a flattering 5-1 defeat, but they showed plenty of fight, it was just the cutting edge that was missing.
A sea of tifo and banners evoked the Guanche spirit that repelled the Spanish invaders for so long, and made a rousing welcome for the teams. Tenerife dived straight into the action, Alfaro was through on goal in the first minute, only to be denied by a Garay block. The home side pushed forward, strangely Mikel Alonso was left on the bench but Richi and Ricardo spurred the charge. Ronaldo got little change out of Sicilia and only really caught the eye due to his dainty yellow boots.
Madrid were put off at first by Tenerife’s energy but grew in confidence and broke the deadlock after 29 minutes as Marcelo set up Higuain to bury the ball in the top corner. Nino had a good chance to hit back but Albiol proved too strong for him and took the ball. With the half time whistle approaching, Garay whipped in a cross from the right and found Higuain for his and Madrid’s second.
Tenerife made a perfect start to the second half, Nino put the ball in to the area and Ayoze and Casillas both went up for the ball, Ayoze proved the stronger and bundled it into the net as the Spain goalie complained. That could have been a way back for CDT but as the crowd savoured the goal Madrid went forward, Higuain found Kaka and his finish was deadly to make it 1-3.
Tenerife kept pushing, coach Oltra made a brave move taking Manolo off and adding Omar to the attack. Ricardo went close but Casillas earned his keep for the afternoon with a quick series of 3 great saves. At the other end Sergio Aragoneses denied Ronaldo one of his few clear chances to loud cheers from the crowd. Both sides continued to create openings, Higuain hit the Tenerife crossbar but Luna gifted them a 4th goal handling the ball, leaving Ronaldo to convert the penalty.
Still Tenerife refused to lay down, substitute Mikel Alonso came close with a shot from the edge of the box and Alfaro twanged the crossbar. There was time for one last goal in injury time, Raul showed his class turning quickly to fire a 5th marker for the visitors.
Zaragoza’a 2-0 win at Getafe was not the news the fans wanted, it pulls them out of the bottom three and makes it even tougher for penultimate placed Tenerife. The fight for survival continues with a tricky away game next week at Deportivo. Real Madrid managed to rub our noses in it a bit more, the Armada Sur had to wait an hour for their coaches, to let the pampered and over policed Madrid coach eventually pass by.