Real Madrid won 2-0 at home against Valencia this Thursday in a game postponed from LaLiga matchday 17, to continue in the wake of leader Barcelona and prolong the Valencia crisis.
The goals from Marco Asensio (52) and Vinicius (54) put the meringues back five points behind the Catalans, who had not failed against Betis (2-1) the day before.
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Carlo Ancelotti’s men dominated, but had to wait for the second half to overcome an orderly Valencia, led by Salvador González ‘Voro’ after the departure of Italian coach Gennaro Gatusso on Monday.
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The ‘che’ team prolongs its crisis, located one point from the relegation places, after a game that ended with ten due to the direct expulsion of Gabriel Paulista (72) for a kick to Vinicius.
“We have done a good first half, it was the plan that we came to play, leaving them few spaces. In the second half, it was difficult for us, they pressed and with those two goals it was very uphill for us,” Valencian player Hugo Guillamón told DAZN after the game.
Real Madrid soon took over the reins of the team, but they were very inaccurate in front of goal in the first half.
Marco Asensio was able to put his team ahead early, but his cross shot was saved by goalkeeper Giorgi Marmashdavili (4).
The Madrid winger was also unable to take advantage of a good backheel from Karim Benzema, leaving him a free ball that crashed into a rival defender (19).
In the discount of the first half, Antonio Rüdiger found the way to the goal with a header after a corner kick (45+2), but the goal was canceled due to a previous foul by Benzema, which the referee whistled after going to the VAR.
Asensio unblocks, Benzema is injured
The annulled goal was a jug of cold water for Real Madrid, which minutes before had suffered the loss of Militao (31) due to injury, a few days after traveling to Morocco next week for the Club World Cup.
The Brazilian defender suffered a problem in his right leg after an action with Samuel Lino and had to be replaced by Dani Carvajal.
After half-time, Real managed to unblock the match when Asensio fired a cross shot that slipped through the top corner of the Valencian goal (52).
Released by the advantage on the scoreboard, Benzema put a ball into space for Vinicius’s career that with another cross shot made it 2-0 (54).
The Brazilian celebrated his 200th game dressed in white in the best way, becoming the youngest player to reach that number in the 21st century.
The joy therefore was marred shortly after by the departure of Benzema injured, after touching his right leg making gestures of annoyance after a shot.
In favor of the score, Real Madrid dedicated themselves to managing the match favored by the expulsion of Gabriel Paulista, which left them in numerical superiority.
With one less, Valencia closed behind during the last quarter of an hour to try to withstand the merengue siege and avoid further damage. (D)
Source: Eluniverso
Tristin is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his in-depth and engaging writing on sports. He currently works as a writer at 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the sports industry.
