Diomandé strikes, Vinícius sees red: Inside Real Madrid’s chaotic, dramatic win over Villarreal
The Brazilian was sent off for unsportsmanlike conduct
R eal Madrid claimed a 1-0 win over Villarreal at the Santiago Bernabéu on Matchday 8 of LaLiga EA Sports, in a match in which Yan Diomande scored his first goal for Los Blancos and Vinícius was sent off for pulling Saliba's hair .
Clear chances were conspicuous by their absence in a first half with little football and only one shot on target. Real Madrid, with Diomande in the starting eleven instead of Vinícius, found many problems moving the ball into the final third of the pitch. Villarreal, with Foyth's return reinforcing their defensive area, needed little to avoid suffering.
Facing a more conciliatory Bernabéu than on other days, with patience renewed after the international break, Jose Mourinho's pupils did not have too much fluency in creating play . Villarreal had possession of the ball and were more accurate in passing, although the good work of the white defense allowed Courtois to remain calm.
The Tchouaméni-Valverde pairing in the center, with Güler confined to the right wing, had very little impact on the build-up. The Whites' few chances came from long balls and runs by their forwards, such as a pass from the Turk from the edge of the box that Carreras brought down and Mbappé slammed against the post.
The protagonist in that process was Trent. The Briton was among the players on his team who generated the most danger thanks to his long balls. In the 21st minute, one of those balls reached Mbappé, who controlled it, cut inside the box and got off a very difficult shot while slipping, which Gulácsi parried.
Villarreal responded quickly, with a shot by Moleiro from the left corner of the box that did not get all the curl the Tenerife-born player would have wanted. With the forwards lacking accuracy, the break arrived with the score at 0-0 and the Bernabéu showed the first signs of discontent with its team.
Vinícius came on in the second half
In the second half, Villarreal regained control of the ball and Mourinho revolutionized his lineup by replacing Trent with Vinícius , who was met with mixed reactions from the stadium, but gradually won over the crowd as the minutes passed. Valverde moved to right-back, Güler took the reins in midfield, and the Brazilian settled in on the left wing.
He soon brought a sense of danger for Real Madrid . A move by Vinícius down his flank ended with a cross for Diomande, who was coming in from the right and struck it fiercely, but without accuracy. Nevertheless, Villarreal remained comfortable when they had the ball and managed to trouble Courtois with a long-range shot from Gueye.
Then Madrid took the lead. Valverde threaded a pass from the edge of the box to Diomande, who controlled it, turned, and fired a low shot on goal while the Villarreal defenders appealed for offside. The assistant initially ruled the goal out, but VAR overturned the decision and the goal was added to the scoreboard. It was the Ivorian's first since joining Los Blancos .
Real Madrid were looking incisive and Vinícius took advantage of that momentum to make it 2-0. However, the VAR called the referee over: the Brazilian had pulled Saliba's hair during his run toward goal. Not only did he disallow Vinícius's goal, but he also sent him off with a straight red card .
The tension rose in the final minutes, during which the referee showed several more bookings. Villarreal were searching for an equalizer and Madrid were trying to survive with one man less, so Mourinho brought on Camavinga and Dumfries for Güler and Diomande . The Whites achieved their objective, keeping play to a minimum, and the match ended 1-0.
1 - Real Madrid: Courtois; Trent (Vinícius, min. 52), Rüdiger, Konaté, Carreras (Cucurella, min. 46); Tchouaméni, Valverde; Arda Güler (Camavinga, min. 77), Bellingham, Diomande (Dumfries, min. 86); and Mbappé.
0 - Villarreal: Gulácsi; Freeman, Pau Navarro, Foyth (Carlos Romero, min. 56), Renato Veiga, Cardona (Mikautadze, min. 67); Santi Comesaña (Saliba, min. 56), Gueye, Moleiro (Nízar, min. 86); Ilias Akhomach (Gerard Moreno, min. 67) and Ayoze.
Goal: 1-0, 62nd minute: Diomande.
Referee: Isidro Díaz de Mera. He sent off Vinícius with a red card (73rd minute) for pulling Saliba by the hair. He booked the home players Bellingham (19th minute), Konaté (81st minute), Rüdiger (83rd minute), Tchouaméni (87th minute) and Mbappé (94th minute), and the away players Renato Veiga (10th minute) and Pau Navarro (84th minute).
Incidents: match corresponding to the eighth round of LaLiga EA Sports played at the Santiago Bernabéu in front of around 75,000 spectators. Before the match, tribute was paid to the Real Madrid team that won the Under-20 Intercontinental Cup.
