Arsenal fans loved Santi Cazorla, ain’t they? In fact, If I were to ask – we miss him now.
But he has got us all singing his name once again with his display against Real Madrid as Villarreal earned a point against Santiago Solari’s Madrid.
Santi Cazorla found a way behind Thibaut Courtois twice as he was the only man on the scoresheets for The Yellow Tanks and probably that is why he was The Player of the Match.
Cazorla was recalled to start for struggling Villarreal (18th as of now) as La Liga returns from Winter break, and it took him only four minutes to find his way behind Real’s defence.
Samuel Chukwueze cut inside from the right to beat multiple defenders before finding Cazorla on his run in the left of the box. The Spainard lets it fly on the first time curling it off the corner to beat Courtois.
WATCH: SANTI’S CLASS TO GIVE VILLARREAL THE LEAD
“After the moments I’ve had to endure, scoring a brace for Villarreal against Real Madrid is very special.” Santi Cazorla đ#VillarrealRealMadrid pic.twitter.com/Ha3JkQ1MiE
â LaLiga (@LaLigaEN) January 3, 2019
Although Real Madrid found their way back into the game with Karim Benzema’s header to equalize before Raphael Varane rose to the occasion to head Toni Kroos’ free kick pass Asenjo to et the lead.
It looked like Real Madrid were minutes away from clinching all three points, but Santi had other things in mind.
A fine cross from Arsenal target Pablo Fornals found Cazorla at the back post and he made no mistake with his header.
Real Madrid head coach Santiago Solari insisted it was a ‘fair result’ despite the late drama. Although, the veteran blames Gareth Balr’s half time injury for Madrid:s lack of sharpness upfront in the second forty-five.
“It could be said the result was fair,â Realâs coach, Santiago Solari, said.
âWe chased the victory and had it in our hands. We wanted to kill the game off and they put us under a lot of pressure as they were at home and they badly needed the points. When Gareth came off we lost a bit of sharpness in attack, we still had the chance to score a couple but we needed to attack with more clarity.â
SANTI SHOWED UP
Cazorla was on brink of giving up and losing it all, when he suffered career threatening injury couple of years back. It was a nightmare run for him, undergoing eleven operations in the process.
Considering the man he is and all he has gone through – he deserves this and more than this.
And that is exactly what he had to say…
“After the moments I’ve had to endure, scoring a brace for Villarreal against Real Madrid is very special.” Santi Cazorla đ#VillarrealRealMadrid pic.twitter.com/Ha3JkQ1MiE
â LaLiga (@LaLigaEN) January 3, 2019
