Pellegrini hails Ronaldo

Real Madrid coach Manuel Pellegrini hailed match-winner Cristiano Ronaldo after the Primera Division title hopefuls overcome what the Chilean described as their worst defensive performance of the season to down Osasuna 3-2 in dramatic circumstances on Sunday.

Madrid, knowing a defeat would all but end their hopes of overtaking leaders Barcelona, twice trailed to Osasuna and also allowed their mid-table opponents a number of other chances in what was a shaky and tense performance by the capital club.

However, Pellegrini's men twice equalised before the break and then snatched all three points when Ronaldo headed in his second of the game in the 89th minute, moving Madrid back to within a point of leaders Barcelona with three games remaining.

That late strike was Ronaldo's 22nd goal in 26 league appearances since joining from Manchester United last summer, and Pellegrini said of the £80million man: ''He's a player who makes the difference and we are fortunate he's with us.''

Pellegrini also praised his side's fighting spirit, adding: ''I think the team is very strong, especially on a psychological level. This is vital in the final stage of the season.''

However, the Madrid coach, whose future has been the subject of much speculation recently with Inter Milan coach Jose Mourinho being closely linked as a possible summer replacement, was far from happy with his team's defending.

Raul Albiol's early mistake gifted Osasuna a seventh-minute lead, and the visitors created other decent opportunities that could have seen Madrid sunk long before Ronaldo's late winner.

''I think we've had the worst game of the season in defence, we were very weak at the back,'' he said. ''We suffered a lot. It wasn't an easy game and Osasuna made things very difficult.''

Ronaldo felt the whole side was under-par and claimed that the team cannot afford to make more mistakes..

''In my opinion all the team were very bad. I'm speaking of those up front, those in the middle and those at the back. We cannot allow Osasuna to have caused us so much danger,'' he was quoted as saying in Marca. ''We need to remember we are playing for the league and we need to be more focused. It can't happen again, because on another occasion we are not going to be able to bounce back. But we had the fortune of being able to do it today.

''If you lose points at this moment you lose the title. Thank God we managed to score the third goal and win the game. We need to continue winning. Barcelona have a great team but the great teams also lose. We need to think that it's possible that they will drop points.''

Madrid are next in action on Wednesday when they go to fourth-placed Real Mallorca, while Barca host third-bottom Tenerife on Tuesday night.