La Liga: Cristiano Ronaldo scores late to help Real draw with Bilbao

Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo (centre) heads the ball during their La Liga match against Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday. Pic/AFP

Cristiano Ronaldo scored an exquisite back-heel to rescue a point for Real Madrid in their 1-1 draw against Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday. Madrid looked to be heading for defeat after Inaki Williams opened the scoring for the visitors after 14 minutes. But Ronaldo, restored to the starting line-up by head coach Zinedine Zidane, provided a deft flick from Luka Modric's 87th-minute drive to move Real to within three points of second-place Atletico Madrid having played one game more.

Zidane headed into Wednesday's La Liga tie believing his side could yet leapfrog city rivals Atletico. Real were stunned after just 14 minutes when Williams struck. Real were in charge of the second half but moments after a Ronaldo penalty appeal was waved away, the visitors nearly doubled their lead. Cordoba's shot was blocked with Raul Garcia smashing the follow-up against the bar. Bale and Isco were introduced by Zidane with 20 minutes to go, but it was Ronaldo who would spare Real's blushes in the closing stages to score for a 12th consecutive game.

Catch up on all the latest sports news and updates here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever