Real Madrid got the win they needed against surprise team Rayo, but it wasn’t particularly convincing. Four cold-blooded minutes were enough – then they had to hold on for a long time.
Just a few minutes after Atletico’s mistake at Getafe, the Whites started brightly in another minor Madrid derby. Bellingham was back after his suspension, but the most noticeable Madrilenian was Vinicius Junior. He took the first shot and was very active.
Alaba was able to start at the back again in another midweek match – and the Austrian made a decisive impact on several occasions against the dangerous surprise package Rayo. In the 7th minute, however, the Austrian was unable to prevent Courtois’s deputy Lunin from making a mistake after a corner. Aridane headed over the half-empty box.
Royal double, glorious comeback goal
Rayo keeper Batalla deflected Vinicius’ long-range shot against the post (14th) before the visitors grew a little stronger. They could have taken the lead again because Lunin defended a long-range shot into the middle. But Asencio stood in the way of Gumbau’s follow-up shot (27th).
Real wobbled a little after their dominance subsided, but their strike duo, criticized during the week, took action. Mbappé and Vinicius finished good individual actions, and suddenly Madrid was 2-0 up (30′, 34′). The Frenchman almost scored the 3-0 shortly afterwards, but Batalla made an important instinctive save (35′).
Even if not everything went according to plan, the result did for Real. At least until the first-half stoppage time: Alaba saved on the five against Alvaro (45th), a little later Pedro Diaz shortened with a magnificent and deserved Latten goal (45. +2).
After the break, Rayo’s claim arose from the game, the game was now noticeably more balanced. Whereby the significantly greater danger radiated Real, because the guests through their high last line always offered something. Mbappé almost benefited – and should have actually scored a brace (54th).
The royal joy of playing suffered above all from the fact that Rayo’s right-back Ratiu now had Vinicius better under control. Meanwhile, Bellingham, who had also had to take a break in the premier class, was pretty much left out of the game. What contributed to a tough second half in particular was that the guests hardly offered anything up front.
At the beginning of the final quarter of an hour, Vinicius also missed the 3-1 (76th minute), which was in keeping with the sloppy play from both teams. The game thus remained exciting until the bitter end, with Trejo even having a good chance to make it 2-2 (88th minute). But in the end, Real got the win they needed to overtake Atletico in the table. Barca, who still have games in hand, are now level on points.
