Real Madrid escapes a late scare from Rayo Vallecano at the Santiago Bernabeu as they secure a crucial victory without Vinicius Jr.
In a game that featured Vinicius Jr., Madrid had just lost to Valencia. following racial taunts from the Valencia fans, he was dismissed.
Even though LaLiga overturned Vinicius’ red card that evening as they won 2-1, he was not included in the squad to play Rayo Vallecano.
After numerous opportunities, Karim Benzema gave the home team the lead and took advantage of the halftime break. Raul de Tomas’ goal for Rayo Vallecano gave them the lead back in the second half, but Rodrygo’s goal for Madrid gave them the victory late on.
Has it happened
The coach of Real Madrid, Carlo Ancelotti, made seven changes to his team that fell to Valencia on Sunday while the coach of Rayo Vallecano made three changes to his team that fell to Espanyol.
With a lot of attacking threat, the home team quickly established the game. However, they took the lead in the 31st minute when Karim Benzema scored with a straightforward close-range finish after Federico Valverde laid the ball off for him.
As the referee blew the halftime whistle, Madrid continued to look for a way to score the second goal before the break but were unsuccessful.
As the second half got underway, Real Madrid continued to press for a second goal but was unsuccessful in doing so. Raul de Tomas, a Vallecano player, broke through, intercepted a brilliant pass, and then produced a precise strike to beat the goalkeeper to give Vallecano the equalizer in the 84th minute. The bottom left corner of the net received the ball.
Not until Rodrygo received a lovely pass and fired a low shot into the bottom right corner, leaving the keeper helpless, did Rayo Vallecano believe they had secured a draw.
Madrid went on to win the match.
After the contentious defeat to Valencia, Madrid picked up where it left off and climbed back to second place in the league standings.
