Injuries overshadowed Real’s victory. 180 seconds that shook Valencia

It was 180 seconds that shook Valencia. In the 52nd minute, Marco Asensio received a pass from Karim Benzema on 18 meters, in the corner of the penalty area. He took a shot and scored a beautiful goal. The Georgian goalkeeper, Giorgi Mamardashvili, who has been doing very well so far, did not even intervene, but helplessly watched the ball away. A moment later, Vinicius Junior, who played his 200th match for Real Madrid, showed off a great, individual action on the left side. He passed the rival at speed, ran into the penalty area and took advantage of the situation one-on-one with the Valencia goalkeeper. In the 61st minute it could have been 3:0, but Luka Modric’s shot from a tight angle was saved by Mamardashvili, and Benzema’s rebound was blocked by a defender. The visitors, who had missed a shot on target throughout the match!, made things even more difficult in the 72nd minute when Gabriel Paulista was shown a red card for a brutal foul on Vinicius.

– Iturralde González always says that the main goal of the referee is to take care of the health of the players. I hope this is also a task for the Competition Committee. May they give Gabriel a very severe punishment to set boundaries. He clearly wanted to hurt Vinicius. Scandalous behavior – commented on Twitter Jakub Kręcidło, Canal+Sport journalist.

Injuries overshadowed Real Madrid’s victory

From the start of the match, Real Madrid were the better team and pushed their rivals to the defense. He kept possession of the ball longer (67-33 percent until the break) and created chances to score a goal. In the 18th minute, Karim Benzema could have had a beautiful assist. After a cross into the penalty area of ​​Vincius Junior, he played a beautiful heel to Marco Asensio, but the Spaniard’s shot from eleven meters was blocked. Then good chances were wasted by Vinicius Junior and Eduardo Camavinga.

The hosts got theirs in the third minute of added time. Antonio Rudiger headed a free-kick from Luka Modric. The referee looked at the replay and disallowed the goal. This is because Benzema fouled the American Yunus Musah in the penalty area. He elbowed him in the neck and then hit him in the face with his hand. The Frenchman was booked for this offence. On the other hand, justice has been done, because the corner kick should not have taken place at all. That’s because Camavinga was fouled by Dimitri Foilquier, who cleared the ball for a corner.

Not only was Real Madrid unable to score, but in the 35th minute they lost their main stopper – Brazilian Eder Miliao, who suffered an injury. He was replaced by Dani Carvajal, returning to the game after a three-week break, who moved to the right, and Miliato was replaced by Nacho Fernandez. In the second part, the Spanish champions were more effective, as we wrote above. However, the home fans could have been worried about the picture from the 60th minute, because Karim Benzema left the pitch limping.

Real Madrid after this win after 19 rounds are five points behind the leader in the table FC Barcelona. Valencia with 20 points is only in fourteenth place.

Real Madrid – Valencia 2-0 (0-0)

Goals: Asensio (52), Vinicius Junior (55)