Primera Liga/Real Madrid - 2 Real Sociedad - 1: Zinedine Zidane helped Wanderley Luxemburgo get off to a dream start as Real Madrid coach when he scored the winner to give his side an incredible 2-1 victory over Real Sociedad in a frantic seven-minute mini-match at the Bernabeu yesterday.
The French midfielder scored the crucial goal after team-mate Ronaldo had been brought down in the area four minutes into a match that had to be completed 24 days after the original fixture was abandoned because of a bomb scare.
The result means that Real move up into third place in the table, level on points with but behind second-placed Valencia and 10 adrift of league leaders Barcelona.
The game marked a satisfactory debut for Luxemburgo, who was appointed as Real coach after the club unexpectedly sacked his predecessor Mariano Garcia Remon last week.
In the first game Ronaldo put Real ahead against the run of play with an acrobatic strike on the turn just three minutes before half-time. But Sociedad got a deserved equaliser in the second half when Turkish forward Nihat Kahveci scored with a carbon copy strike and his side was on top when the game was halted.
The delayed portion of the game was a different matter altogether and Real showed a new desire and verve.
The match restarted with a goal kick for Sociedad, but the visitors quickly lost control of the ball and it was Real, roared on by 15,000 fans who had been given free access to the stadium, who piled on the pressure.
Striker Fernando Morientes, who was given a rare start ahead of Michael Owen, had a couple of half chances in the first two minutes, but it was a hopeful kick forward from midfielder Guti that helped decide the game.
Ronaldo managed to control the ball, raced into the area, unleashed a couple of trademark step-overs and was brought down by a desperate challenge from Sociedad full back Mikel Labaka.
Referee Vicente Lizondo Cortes had no hesitation in pointing to the spot and Zidane fired his spot kick inside the right-hand post to score the match-winning goal.
REAL MADRID: Casillas, Salgado, Helguera, Samuel, Carlos, Beckham, Guti, Zidane, Ronaldo (Pavón, 92), Raúl (Solari, 94), Morientes.
REAL SOCIEDAD: Riesgo, Rekarte, Luiz Alberto, Labaka, Garrido, Karpin, Mikel Alonso, Aramburu, Gabilondo, Nihat, Kovacevic.
Referee: Lizondo Cortés (Colegio Valenciano).
