Manhandled for 85 minutes, Real Madrid escaped at the Mestalla against Valencia as Jude Bellingham missed a penalty, Kylian Mbappé scored an offside goal and Vinicius Jr was sent off (2-1). Until the last second and a che shot on the post, this match was spectacular. Casa Blanca becomes leader of La Liga.
Postponed due to the terrible floods which ravaged the region, Valencia CF – Real Madrid was held this Friday in Mestalla. For the Blanquinegros, the truce was eventful with the departure of Ruben Baraja and the arrival on the bench of Carlos Corberanarrived from West Brom. Second in the ranking, Casa Blanca could take first place ahead ofAtlético and put the Barça at 5 lengths in the event of victory.
Valencia surprises
While the Blanquinegros looked like expiatory victims, it was on the contrary they who dictated the start of the match, even if Fede Valverde, receiving a cross behind Vinicius Jr, got the first opportunity by shooting Stole Dimitrievski (5e).
Surprisingly, the VCF dared to offer sequences of possession with shifts, the opposite or almost everything that had been seen so far this season. After an overflow from Luis Rioja which stuck Lucas Vázquez, André Almeida put back on Hugo Duro which, without control, lit Thibaut Courtoisvigilant. Continuing, Duro placed a header into the Belgian’s gloves (7th). While the Madrid sides were regularly caught out by the lack of withdrawal from the attackers, Duro slipped a very good ball to Dimitri Foulquier who saw his cross shot deflected for a corner by the knee of Courtois, impassable (12th).
Obviously not yet recovered from the end of year feasts, Real Madrid suffered a lot and did not show much will. And Courtois sometimes becomes human again. On the right side, Foulquier found Javi Guerra who placed a powerful shot at the near post: the goalkeeper managed to push away but the ball arrived at Duro, alone to push the ball deep. Despite Madrid’s requests to return to contact between Yarek and Rodrygo at the very start of the action, the goal was validated (27th).
Sluggish for more than half an hour, Real Madrid got serious about their match. Author of a powerful strike against Seville, Valverde saw a new missile graze the crossbar (38th). Established in the middle, Dani Ceballos distilled a sublime pass for Vinicius whose cross shot from the left was not at the level of his teammate’s offering and Dimitrievski won the duel (43rd).
Vini cracks, Valencia too
And then there was this totally crazy 2nd period. Completely asphyxiated, Valencia spent his time in his last thirty meters. Youth and naivety were costly. Too relaxed, Enzo Barrenechea lost the ball, blocked by Vinicius. Invisible until then, Kylian Mbappé took the opportunity to overtake César Tárrega who touched the Frenchman, even if he did not seem able to recover the ball after his control. Penalty awarded but missed by Jude Bellingham who found the post after a missed run-up (53rd).
The VCF still held out, but for how long? In a small space, Vinicius found Bellingham who, with one touch, launched Mbappé. After dribbling past Dimitrievski, he equalized… before the VAR signaled an offside (59th).
The freediving competition continued. On a cross from Aurélien Tchouaméni, again starting in central defense, Rodrygo placed a nice header but narrowly above (67th).
If there is one area where Dimitrievski excels, it is in gaining time and disrupting his opponents. And Vinicius responded to the provocation: the gesture of humor in the goalkeeper’s face was seen by the VAR and he was excluded. His best bodyguard, Antonio Rüdiger, did well to follow his teammate who, furious, gave the impression of wanting to fight with the referee (79th).
And it was paradoxically in numerical superiority that Valencia allowed itself to be overwhelmed. Coming into play to reinforce the defensive midfielder, Hugo Guillamón lost the ball after pressure from Brahim Diaz. Bellingham served Luka Modric, who also came to bring new blood. The rest is a classic: outside of the foot to score his very first goal of the season (85th).
In this agonizing end, Valencia should have counted on its most experienced men. Alas, it was through them that the Madrid victory came. Pressed by Brahim, Foulquier procrastinated, looking for a back pass angle. The ball, poorly assured, escaped Guillamón’s feet and Bellingham, who was not asking for so much, scored the goal of the deliverance (90th + 5th).
There were a handful of seconds left to validate this success and the success continued for Real Madrid. Starting from the right side, Rioja took advantage of a bad reading from Eduardo Camavinga to take the ball, refocus and send a pure strike into the top corner of Courtois, clearly beaten but… saved by his right post and the ricochet which did not want to laugh for the Che winger (90th + 10).
Real Madrid escaped the trap to become leader of the championship and Valencia will be able to harbor regrets, which is not nothing after weeks of sluggish play. A way to console ourselves while the 17th is 4 points away.
