Real Madrid beat Valencia 2-0 at the Santiago Bernabéu on Thursday night. The reigning LaLiga champions needed victory to keep up with their rivals Barcelona. Barca beat Real Betis on Wednesday to extend their lead at the top of the LaLiga table to eight points. However, Real have now closed the gap back to five with the win.
Real dominated the early stages of Thursday’s game. The hosts had 70% possession and five shots in total compared to Valencia’s zero shots within the first half hour. However, the reigning champions were unable to put too much pressure on goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili during this period of time.
Star defender Eder Militao was forced to leave the pitch in the 35th minute of the match. The center back jumped awkwardly and appeared to twist his ankle on the landing. Dani Carvajal, typically a winger, replaced the Brazilian in central defence. Militao, however, did not seem overly concerned about the injury and was seen smiling on the bench later in the match.
Antonio Rüdiger finally put the ball into the net a few minutes before the break. The central teammate headed in a goal from a corner kick. However, the goal was eventually scored with the help of a VAR review. Replays showed Karim Benzema pushing Yunus Musah just seconds before Rüdiger headed the shot. The severity of the contact was certainly debatable. However, the goal did not hold and the game went goalless at halftime.
Asensio, Vini put Real Madrid up over Valencia
Real finally took the lead early in the second half thanks to Marco Asensio. The winger fired a beautiful long shot from just outside the box. The ball stayed in the air, disconcerting Mamardashvili in goal. He didn’t even move from his place.
Vinicius doubled Real’s lead just two minutes later. The other end of the team collected the ball from midfield, past Valencia defender Gabriel Paulista and finished cleanly past the goalkeeper with a low shot.
However, the man who provided the assist for both goals, Karim Benzema, had to be substituted in the 60th minute due to injury. The Frenchman limped off the pitch and went straight to the locker room. Rodrygo entered the fray for the locals.
Paulista expelled for savage challenge
Tempers flared in the 72nd minute when Paulista savagely brought down Vinicius down the wing. The center back was sent off for the apparently deliberate attempt to hurt the Real player. Both Brazilians collided in the reactions after the challenge. Militao even had a few words with Paulista on the sidelines when the Valencia defender left the pitch.
Valencia is now just one point behind the bottom three in the table. The bottom third of the league table is also packed. In fact, the teams between the 11th and 18th places in the Spanish top flight are separated by only three points.
PHOTO: IMAGO / Pressinphoto
