Real Madrid 3 - Cádiz 1

Madrid: Casillas; Cicinho, Mejía, Sergio Ramos, Roberto Carlos; Gravesen (Cassano 59'); Beckham, Guti (Iván Helguera 85'), Zidane, Robinho (Raúl Bravo 88'); Baptista. 4-1-4-1.
Cádiz: Armando; Varela, De Quintana, Berizzo, Raúl López; Estoyanoff (Enrique 73'), Bezares, Benjamín, Jonathan Sesma; Nenad Mirosavljevic (Lobos 73'), Medina. 4-4-2.

Team changes: Madrid: No change / Cádiz: De Quintana, Estoyanoff for De la Cuesta, Enrique.

Goals:
0-1. 55. Medina. Controlled pass from Nenad and placed shot wide of Casillas.
1-1. 68. Roberto Carlos. Fired shot through defensive wall following short free kick.
2-1. 71. Beckham. Curled ball into top corner of net from set piece free kick.
3-1. 83. Robinho. Ran on to Guti pass and lobbed shot over head of Armando.

Real Madrid finally overcame Cádiz thanks to their set piece maestros but not before the Andalusians had given them a real fright.

Cádiz started brightly by forcing a series of corners, one of which Casillas clawed away to safety. The home side took ten minutes to create their first opportunity. Armando spectacularly saved Sergio Ramos' downward header from a Beckham corner.

Baptista almost ended his goal drought in the 18th minute setting himself up for a shot, which Armando did well to hold. Four minutes later the influential Zidane fed Robinho who found space for an effort which rose just too high to test Armando.

A minute later Real Madrid who were let off the hook. Medina had gone clear in the box but was halted by a questionable offside flag. Cádiz kept up the pressure and Casillas had to be alert to save from Benjamín after a flowing move.

Zidane had the ball in net three minutes before the interval. Again the flag was up for what looked a very close call. Soon there was further controversy when Robinho went down in the penalty box. Perhaps the young Brazilian went down too dramatically for the referee's liking but there was certainly contact. Play swung back to the other end where Casillas parried another Benjamín effort to safety.

Early in the second half Medina went close for Cádiz with an overhead kick. But the large and vocal travelling support did not have to wait long to celebrate. The Madrid defence failed to clear their lines properly following a Cádiz counter attack. The ball finally broke to Medina who took a touch before tucking it into the corner of the net.

The Whites gambled in a bid to get quickly back into the game and sent on Cassano in place of Gravesen. Cádiz had a chance to double their lead on 65 minutes when De Quintana fired into the side netting from good position.

The Andalusians were to rue the miss as Real Madrid got out of jail with two quick fire free kicks midway through the second half. Firstly, Zidane and Beckham set up Roberto Carlos for a cannonball strike, which blasted its way through the Cádiz wall. Minutes later, from a similar position just outside the penalty area, Beckham found the top corner with a sublime curling shot.

This quick double salvo took the wind out of the Cádiz sails and eight minutes from time Robinho added a third. The Brazilian latched onto a Gutí pass and lobbed Armando from distance.