Ronaldo embarrasses himself with shocking open-goal miss

Cristiano Ronaldo could only hang his head in shame after producing an unbelievable miss from point-blank range in Real Madrid's 2-1 win over Getafe on Sunday.

With the score locked at 1-1 in the final stages of the tense match, Ronaldo looked certain to put Real in front when he was presented with a golden opportunity.

But from point-blank range and with the goalkeeper scrambling, the Portuguese great inexplicably sent his shot wide, leaving him furious and highly embarrassed.

"It was bouncing awkwardly but you'd expect a man of Ronaldo's calibre to put that one away," one commentator said.

It looked like another frustrating afternoon for Real Madrid as two more points threatened to slip away, before Ronaldo redeemed himself to strike the winner with a fine angled drive five minutes from time.

Madrid started the day seven adrift of fierce rivals Barcelona in La Liga and Zinedine Zidane's side - in the Frenchman's 100th competitive match as coach - could ill afford to drop any more after disappointing draws at home to Valencia and Levante, and a shock defeat to Betis at the Santiago Bernabeu in recent weeks.

Ronaldo had scored in 10 of his previous 12 league games against Getafe, including three hat-tricks, but the four-time Ballon d'Or winner was without a Primera Division strike to his name heading into this match and is still struggling to find his brilliant best since returning from a five-match domestic suspension.

with agencies