Real Madrid gave La Liga minnows a comprehensive 5-1 thrashing last night and although Cristiano Ronaldo's 25th hat-trick for Los Blancos dominated the headlines, another major talking point was the performance of referee Carlos Clos Gomez.
By far the lowest point of the Spanish referee's game came when he awarded Real Madrid a penalty after a blatant dive from Marcelo. The player deemed to have fouled the Brazillian literally made no contact with him at all. The Elche players must have thought they were getting a free-out for Marcelo's histrionics.
Elche also took a shock lead in a rather controversial fashion. 15 minutes into the match, Ronaldo did a bog standard clearance from his own box as Pedro Mosquera came charging up behind him. As the Madrid talisman followed through he clipped the Elche player and the referee awarded a penalty, leaving both the Elche and Real Madrid players bemused.
What made it even weirder is that Cristiano said after the game that he agreed with the referee's decision to award the penalty. Perhaps the pair were drinking from the same thermometer at half time.
