BARCELONA: Cristiano Ronaldo took his tally to 19 goals in 17 matches with a double in Real Madrid's 3-2 win over Getafe Monday as Jose Mourinho's side stayed within two points of Spanish league leader Barcelona. In an frenetic Spanish capital derby, Ronaldo and Mesut Oezil gave Madrid an early 2-0 advantage before Daniel Parejo pulled one back for the home side. Ronaldo added Madrid's third early in the second half and with the game apparently won, Kaka made his first appearance for Madrid since having surgery after the World Cup. However, Madrid went down a man when Alvaro Arbeloa was sent off and Jorge Angel Albin made it a dramatic finish by scoring Getafe's second in the 84th. Ronaldo had scored a double in last season's fixture at the Alfonso Perez stadium and was on his way to repeating the effort when he got Madrid's opener from the penalty spot 11 minutes in. Winger Di Maria earned the spot-kick when he was held up by defender Jose Manuel “Mane” Jimenez. Eight minutes later, Di Maria put Oezil through the center of the Getafe defense and the Germany playmaker used one touch to create the angle to fire past goalkeeper Jordi Codina. Down two goals, Getafe reacted, gaining control of possession and probing the Madrid defense. The reward came in the 29th when Parejo halved Getafe's deficit with a great individual effort. The ex-Madrid midfielder split two defenders before firing the ball just inside the left post. Despite Getafe's reply, Madrid remained dangerous in attack, and Benzema crossed to Ronaldo, who came within inches of tapping in Madrid's third five minutes before halftime. The pace did not wane in the second half, and in the 57th Oezil intercepted a pass for Benzema to set up Ronaldo in the area for the Portugal forward's 27th goal in 25 matches. Kaka, who played the last 15 minutes, said he was happy with his return to the pitch. With eight minutes remaining, Arbeloa was sent off after receiving a second yellow card for handball and Albin, a second-half substitute, took advantage of a poor clearance by Marcelo to score Getafe's second in the 85th, but there was to be no comeback. Earlier, Villarreal beat Almeria 2-0 on Monday to strengthen its grip on third place in Spain and stay undefeated at home. Mallorca downed Hercules 3-0 for its first win in four weeks, Atletico Madrid drew 0-0 with Racing Santander and Zaragoza beat Real Sociedad 2-1 on a late goal by Braulio.
