Alvaro Arbeloa scored his first La Liga goal of the season duringReal Madrid's 3-0 win against Almeria on Wednesday, providing a sliding finish which irked Cristiano Ronaldo, who was waiting to tap the ball into an empty net.
Ronaldo, who is just one goal ahead of Lionel Messi for Spain's Pichichitrophy, and the European Golden Shoe, reacted angrily. Arbeloadoesn't blame his team-mate and understands why he was frustrated, as reported by Madrid's official website:
"I'm not upset about Cristiano's gesture," said the right-back. "It's normal that he should be angry, he didn't score and his ambition is always to score. The Pichichi trophy is at stake for him and we all understand that and try to help him."
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He currently has 39 goals in La Liga, per WhoScored.com. Messi has crept up on his Portuguese rival's total by scoring three in his last two matches, ensuring the season's final run-in is going to be extremely tight.
Ronaldo has matches against Sevilla (away), Valencia (home), Espanyol(away) and Getafe (home) remaining, per Soccerway. Messi will square off against Cordoba (away), Real Sociedad (home), Atletico Madrid(away) and Deportivo La Coruna (home). Difficulty wise, there's not much difference between these remaining schedules.
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Arbeloa last scored more than one domestic league goal in a season in 2009-10. He has only made 10 starts this season and is a regular understudy to Dani Carvajal, as reported by WhoScored.
Often noted as the weak spot of Madrid's defence when he does play,Arbeloa has proven more than happy to fill in when needed. It's disappointing, then, to see one of his team-mates act selfishly on the pitch. Fox Sports provided one of the many Twitter reactions to such a situation:
Ronaldo has been unable to keep his gestures in check during recent matches. Although booting the ball in the back of the net out of frustration won't alert the authorities, LFP president Javier Tebas is no doubt watching the former Manchester United man closely.
CR7 was previously slammed for his "calm down" celebration during the Clasico loss, something Tebas called "provocative," as reported by Iain Rogers of Reuters (h/t Daily Mail). The LFP chief even suggested "It must be sanctioned, from a fine up to a suspension. We will look into it." No action has been taken.
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Ronaldo is also said to have "touched his balls" in a provocative manner toward the referee during the Barca trip, perMarca. During the recent win over RayoVallecano, Ronaldo's goal celebration included a "robbery" gesture after he was wrongly booked for diving, as reported by Luis F. Rojo of Marca.
Although his latest annoyance on the pitch doesn't fall into the same category—it's an act toward team-mates rather than officials or the fans—Ronaldo needs to be careful. He has appeared overly emotional on the pitch in recent times. If he oversteps the mark, Madrid will lose their main hope of clawing back the two points needed to reach Barcelona atop La Liga.
Arbeloa would have slept well last night in full knowledge it was his right to finish the ball off. Ronaldo receives plenty of opportunities throughout the season to increase his tally, so there's nothing wrong with the defender taking his moment of glory.
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