Real Madrid, one of the La Liga heavyweights, handed the league’s lead to FC Barcelona on Monday night after falling to local rivals Rayo Vallecano 3-2 in a dramatic encounter played away from home.
Rayo had lost 19 of their previous 20 meetings with Real Madrid, but they earned the victory thanks to a brave offensive performance and some last-ditch defence in the last minutes.
With Karim Benzema still out of the lineup, Rayo got out to a fast start in the match. After just five minutes, Santi Comisana scored a left-foot volley from Alvaro’s cross from the left as the home team attempted to move the ball fast and push Madrid high up the field.
Rayo continued to dominate with Oscar Valentin firing over and Isi Palizon forcing a good save from Thibaut Courtois, before the game changed radically in the 36th minute.
VAR showed that Marco Asensio had been caught from behind in the Rayo area and Luka Modric made no mistake from the penalty spot.
Four minutes later, Eder Militao headed Real Madrid ahead from a corner, with Rayo asking for a foul in attack, but this time VAR didn’t see anything.
However, there was one more act in a thrilling first half when Alvaro Garcia made it 2-2 with a powerful left-foot shot that left Courtois helpless, after another rapid attack from the home side.
Rayo also started the second half strongly, with Fran Garcia firing just over in an action that saw Rayo coach Andoni Iraola sent off for protesting Courtois had got a touch.
Oscar Trejo’s two-goal penalty in the 67th minute gave the home team the lead once more. Dani Carvajal was given a handball penalty, and although though Courtois blocked Trejo’s initial penalty effort, VAR revealed that the goalkeeper was just slightly off his line prior to Trejo’s second attempt, when he slid the ball to the keeper’s left.
After scoring, Trejo was replaced by Unai Lopez, but his team’s style of play remained the same, with the fullbacks continuing to advance quickly. Real Madrid wasn’t able to encircle the Rayo region until the final five minutes of play.
Rodrygo takes his over from close range in the last minute of regular time after a cross from Asensio and Fede Valverde sent a shot onto the balcony of one of the apartments behind Rayo’s ground, but the home side held on for a deserved win.
(inputs from IANS)