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Palacios lifted the ball into an empty net after Ferencváros goalkeeper Gábor Szente made a
hash of a clearance and a second-half own goal by captain Gergo Gyurki compounded the
Hungarian club's misery.
There was a frantic yet unproductive start to the match as conditions saw a series of
sliding tackles and niggly fouls punctuate any attempts at flowing football.
A mistake by Real Madrid's Alejandro Raya gave Ferencváros the first opportunity at goal,
his suicidal pass across his own penalty box putting Gyurki clean through but Dávid Solís
did well to close him down and block his shot. Two minutes later in the 18th minute Real
went close, Szente kicking away Raya's 25 metre free-kick and seeing Martin Kozhuharov's
follow-up deflected behind for a corner.
The Spanish giants were getting closer and they duly took the lead in the 22nd minute when
Szente came out to kick clear but missed the ball in treacherously wet conditions, leaving
Palacios with the simple task of chipping the ball into an empty net from just outside the
Fradi penalty area.
Clearly mistakes were the most likely avenue of opportunities at goal and so it was that
both teams were particularly careful not to leave the ball short of pace on a pitch with
rather a lot of standing water.
Such a cautious policy was always likely to come unstuck and so it was that the inevitable
mistakes reoccurred. This time Miguel Gómez played a short corner back to Xavier Velasco
whose low drive from the right channel into the penalty area was rewards with a sliced
attempted clearance by Gyurki which succeeded only in flying past Szente in the Fradi goal
to extend Real's lead.
It's a well-known phrase that 2-0 can be a dangerous scoreline for teams who sit on their
lead but Real showed no intention of becoming complacent. Indeed they responded by bringing
on many of the players they had started the other two games with, including Carlos Exposito
and Jorge Candela, as they pressed for a greater margin of victory. Bulgarian youth
international Martin Kozhuharov should have ensured this but when Candela crossed from the
right he could only direct his weak header wide of Szente's near post.
Kozhuharov then saw a drive from the right channel of the penalty area deflected behind and
Szente somehow recovered to gather Marcelo Taritolay's follow-up from three metres after
spilling another Raya free-kick as Real had Fradi firmly on the back foot.
The scoreline remained 2-0 though and Real Madrid succeeded in claiming the bronze medal
for third place at the PUSKÁS-SUZUKI CUP 2010.
Real Madrid-Ferencváros 2-0 (1-0)
R: Vad
G: Palacios, Gyürki (own goal)
Real Madrid: Soria Solis – Velasco, Rios, Taritolay, Raya – Palacios, Kozhuharov, Cabezali (Candela), Romero – Gomez, Larena (Martin)
Ferencváros: Szente – Kónya, Kálmán, Seres, Erdei – Kocsis, Ribarics (Vad), Nagy, Mile – Gyürki, Hajder (Halápi).
