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July 31, 2015

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Home » Sports » Soccer

Real wins in Shanghai as Milan pays penalty

Source: Agencies | July 31, 2015, Friday | Print Edition

REAL Madrid goalkeeper Kiko Casilla scored with his side’s 11th penalty in a shootout, then saved from his 16-year-old AC Milan counterpart Gianluigi Donnarumma, to give the Spaniards the win after their friendly in Shanghai ended 0-0 last night.

The 10-9 shootout win sealed the Asian edition of the International Champions Cup for Real, which also won the tournament played in Australia earlier this month involving AS Roma and Manchester City.

Real, which opened the preseason tournament in China with a classy 3-0 win over Inter Milan, started with Gareth Bale in a more central role just off main striker Karim Benzema and flanked by Cristiano Ronaldo and Lucas Vazquez.

The attacking quartet troubled the Milan defense with their quick breaks but too often the final ball let them down.

After a lackluster first 45 minutes the game burst to life in the second half at Shanghai Stadium, with Real substitute Toni Kroos getting on the end of Jese’s cutback but his effort deflected wide.

On the hour mark a powerful volley from Milan’s Carlos Bacca forced a terrific one-handed save out of Casilla.

Milan, which finished 10th in Serie A last season, a massive 35 points behind champion Juventus, brought on 6-foot-5-inch stopper Donnarumma with 15 minutes left and the youngster looked confident enough as the game went to a shootout.

After Bacca missed for Milan, Donnarumma produced a great save from Kroos to keep the shootout alive.

Both sides converted until only the goalkeepers were left, and after Casilla thumped his effort home Donnarumma’s weak shot was easily saved to end the match.

Meanwhile, Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal conceded that uncertainty surrounding David De Gea was “not favorable” as the Premier League giant ended its US tour on Wednesday with a 0-2 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain.

De Gea, who is reportedly Real’s top summer transfer target, gave a shaky goalkeeping display as the French champion exposed United’s defense with soft first-half goals by Blaise Matuidi and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Van Gaal is hopeful United will retain the services of De Gea this season but acknowledged the rumors swirling around the star goalkeeper were not helpful to either the play or the club.

“We have a situation that is not favorable for David De Gea, but neither for us and neither for the club (Real) that maybe he wants to go (to),” said van Gaal after United’s defeat at Soldier Field in Chicago.

The veteran Dutch coach was reluctant to be too critical of the Spaniard’s performance however. “Poor I cannot say, but he made a mistake. That’s not poor,” van Gaal said. “Everybody can make mistakes but when a goalkeeper makes a mistake it is mostly a goal and that’s the difference.”

United had been aiming to maintain its 100 percent record after registering wins over Club America, San Jose Earthquakes and European champion Barcelona in its three previous tour games However, van Gaal’s men were undone by two goals from PSG which highlighted the defensive frailty of the squad, even after the arrival of several high-profile signings.

As a result, PSG claimed the ICC trophy in the US zone.

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