(MENAFN- Arab Times) Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo put on a scintillating first-half show as Real Madrid cruised past Inter Milan 3-0 in the International Champions Cup in Guangzhou Monday.
Jese, Raphael Varane and James Rodriguez got the goals for the Spanish giants on a hot and humid night, but it was the display of the two modern-day Galacticos that will live long in the memory of the 39,896 fans who packed the Tianhe stadium. Real Madrid thumped Manchester City 4-1 in Melbourne on Friday and it always looked like they would hand out a similar hammering to Inter as they were quickly into their stride. Karim Benzema, who has been suffering with a slight thigh injury, was not risked, giving Jese a chance to play in a three-pronged attack with the world's two most expensive footballers, Ronaldo and Bale. And it didn't take long for Ronaldo to show his intent, a neat turn in the centre circle and darting run leading to Bale being sent clear on the left in the first minute but the Welshman's cross came to nothing.
Just a minute later Inter's Juan Jesus got away down the left with his cross just evading the head of the onrushing Mauro Icardi on the six-yard line. But that was about as close as the Italian side came as Madrid took control, with Bale and Ronaldo at the heart of everything good. On another day each might have claimed a first-half hat-trick in a rampant display. Bale first shot wide when set free by Ronaldo on the left and the Portuguese reproduced the Welshman's wastefulness minutes later. Ronaldo then forced two classy saves from Samir Handanovic, the second from a trademark dipping and swerving 35-yard free-kick which the keeper parried over one-handed at full stretch while Bale was terrorising fullback Martin Montoya - on loan from Barcelona - with his pace. When the breakthrough came after 29 minutes it inevitably involved the marauding Bale, who this time chose to swing a crossfield ball from right to left and find the advancing full-back Marcelo in space. The Brazilian had time to pick out Jese near the back post with a pinpoint cross.
The Spaniard turned neatly inside Jeison Murillo and found the right-hand corner of the net with a sharp left-foot finish to give Madrid a deserved lead. Ronaldo went through his full repertoire of tricks to huge roars and Bale was a constant threat. But with the superb Handanovic making a series of fine saves to deny the pair, Inter somehow made it to the break without conceding further. A glut of half-time substitutions which saw Ronaldo and Bale depart interrupted Madrid's flow, but they remained the more likely to score. And the second goal duly came on 55 minutes when Inter failed to clear a corner properly. Toni Kroos helped the ball back in to substitute Lucas Vazquez on the right of the box and he picked out the lurking Raphael Varane, another sub, who buried his header from six yards. There was just time for Colombia's World Cup star James Rodriguez, who had only joined up with the Real Madrid squad in China on Sunday after his Copa America exertions, to enter the fray in the 77th minute. Raheem Sterling scored twice in 12 minutes to lead Manchester City to an 8- 1 rout of Vietnam on Monday, stretching an impressive pre-season run after his recent high-profile move from Liverpool.
The Englishman, who left Anfield in a 49 million-pound ($76 million) deal, clinched his brace inside 31 minutes amid a flurry of forays into the box that shook Vietnam and left the hosts struggling to stem the onslaught. Aleksandar Kolarov and David Silva both scored a goal in each half for a City side testing out youngsters in a lop-sided match before near-sellout Hanoi crowd. The victory was City's third in four pre-season games on the road after wins in Australia over Melbourne City and Roma and a 4-1 defeat by Real Madrid. City play VfB Stuttgart in Germany on Saturday. Kolarov put the visitors ahead in the 11th minute, floating a 25-yard free kick into the corner with the keeper rooted to the ground. Sterling opened his account after 19 minutes with a superb curling shot from an angle after being teed up by Silva. Silva prodded a loose ball home from close range just moments later, after his header was pushed on to the crossbar by Vietnamese keeper To Vinh Loi. City made it four when Sterling darted into the area and blasted low into the corner after a one-two with Nigerian striker Kelechi Iheanacho. Vietnam defended desperately, and clumsily, but stepped up a gear at four down when they started playing for pride, with good moves from Le Cong Vinh and Nguyen Van Quyet bringing to life a deflated crowd.
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