Madrid: Real Madrid fought back from 0-2 down to tie 3-3 against Rayo Vallecano on Sunday (IST) at the Estadio de Vallecas. Despite his team’s comeback, Carlo Ancelotti was left frustrated over a controversial penalty call when Vinicius Jr. was brought down in the box.
The controversy unfolded in the 75th minute, with the game tied at 3-3, when Vini Jr. was brought down inside the area by Mumin, but referee Martinez Munuera did not award a penalty.
“The penalty seemed very clear to me,” said Ancelotti in the post-game conference. Vini Jr. didn’t start because he had played 90 minutes in the Champions League and after his injury, we wanted him to play in the second half, where there was a bit less intensity. Vini did well, he played well and had chances to score. He played a good game,” he added.
Rayo struck early on the night as it took only four minutes for Unai Lopez to open the scoring. The hosts extended the lead to 2-0 from a corner taken by Isi Palazon in the 36th minute and headed into the net by Abdul Mumin.
Valverde unleashed a spectacular long-range effort three minutes later, which pulled one back for the visitors. Madrid did not stop there as Bellingham popped up to score his sixth consecutive LaLiga goal with a beautiful header on the brink of half-time to tie the game.
The second half started very differently. The home side slowed down, and Real Madrid took advantage of this to complete the comeback in the 56th minute with a left-footed Rodrygo strike from the edge of the area, but the lead would only last eight minutes when Isi scored an equaliser.
“It was a fair draw. I was very nervous in Mallorca and Las Palmas, but not today. Today I saw a team. We played a complete game. We made mistakes because otherwise we would have won 3-0. We don’t have a very tall team. Rudiger and Tchouameni are very strong up front, but the full-backs are not tall. Sometimes you have to suffer, and in this respect we suffered,” he added.
–IANS
