Dani Carvajal scored a dramatic 99th minute winner in a five goal thriller against bottom club Almeria, to send Real Madrid to the top of the La Liga table…but that isn’t half the story!
It was a game full of action from start to finish but Almeria, who are yet to win a game this season could be forgiven for wondering just what went on. The Andalusian minnows don’t have a lot to hope for, rooted to the bottom of the table on six points and ten from safety. But they have pride, and guts, and they gave the league favourites an almighty scare, going 2-0 up until VAR made three quick interventions to take the game away and hand Los Blancos a crucial win.
This SBOTOP writer isn’t VAR’s biggest fan by any stretch of the imagination and, with that caveat, here is the story.
With just a minute on the clock the Santiago Bernabeu fell silent as the visitors took a shock lead when Lucas Robertone intercepted a poor pass from Nacho, fed Largie Ramazani and he did the rest though Kepa got a leg to his shot. If that wasn’t enough to upset the Madrid fans, their team struggled to get a grip on the game and found themselves 2-0 down before the break. And this goal was a beauty. Nacho cleared and ball fell to centre back Edgar Gonzalez who hit a first time volley rocketing into the top corner giving Kepa no chance.
A win for Almeria was on the cards and it would have been the biggest La Liga 2024 news of the campaign so far, but then VAR came to Los Blancos’ rescue.
On 54 minutes Joselu challenged for the ball in the Almeria penalty area, and while the ball struck defender Kaiky on the arm the visitors were convinced he had been fouled by the Anton Rudiger. But VAR wasn’t and deemed the handball to be deliberate, awarding a penalty which Jude Bellingham converted.
Almeria picked themselves up and went again, and thought they had restored their two goal lead when Bellingham had his pocket picked and Sergio Arribas finished off a superb move. But as the visitors celebrated VAR got to work and judged Bellingham had been fouled and the score remained 2-1.
But not for long.
Vinicius Junior scored the leveller, on 70 minutes, seemingly with his arm and when the referee was called to the monitor it looked like the goal would be disallowed, but no. The third decision in quick succession went with the hosts. They were all marginal, all debatable and hard to take for Almeria.
The visitors’ manager Gaizka Garitano was red carded (not surprisingly) and he went to the stands where he watched the fourth official signal 11 minutes extra time which was just long enough for Carvajal to score the winner. The La Liga 2024 betting odds back Los Blancos as favourites to win the title and I won’t argue with that. But this was so, so cruel on Almeria, and long term league leaders Girona, who entertain Sevilla on Sunday night will not be amused either.
Los Ches on the charge
The good times are back at the Mestalla where Valencia recorded a fourth successive league win to climb up to seventh place in the table and within touching distance of the European places. And in doing so they ended Athletic Bilbao’s 14 match unbeaten run in all competitions.
Athletic have been so hard to break down during their impressive steak, conceding just one goal to an opposition player in the previous nine games and in this match they only conceded one effort on target, but it was a lethal one as Hugo Duro powered a header in for his ninth goal of the season. The deadlock was broken on 61 minutes and then Los Ches showed all the defensive resilience of their visitors, sitting deeper as Bilbao had over 60 per cent possession but they kept chances to a minimum to see the game out.
The Basque side is still in the midst of a battle for Champions League places and manager Ernesto Valverde will pick them up for a Copa del Rey clash against Barcelona on Wednesday. Valencia have been through a difficult period, finishing 16th last season but manager Ruben Baraja has instilled a winning mentality at the club, which will be tested to the full when they visit Atletico Madrid next week.
Sociedad back to winning ways
After a run of four league games without a victory, top four chasers Real Sociedad picked up a hard earned three points away to struggling Celta Vigo. Brais Mendez scored the only goal of a tight game which only yielded six shots for each team and two on target each. The 27 year old hit a thunderbolt from outside the penalty area, giving keeper Vincente Guaita no chance and the Basque club a welcome victory.
Mendez was inches away from a second when his effort struck a post, but there was bad news for Sociedad when left back Aihen Munoz limped off in the first half. Head coach Imanol Alguacil was delighted with the result, particularly as he had to blood some young players who stood up well to the task and ensured Sociedad held on to their sixth place. Celta are down in 16th and just two points above the drop zone.
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