Real Madrid 2-0 Villarreal (5 Oct, 2024) Game Analysis - ESPN (UK)
Revised: October 5, 2024, at 11:15 PM
A fantastic goal from Vinícius Júnior secured a 2-0 victory for Real Madrid over Villarreal at home in LaLiga on Saturday. This win brought the reigning champions temporarily on par with Barcelona, the current league leaders.
Madrid opened the scoring in the 14th minute with a long-range shot from Valverde that took a deflection after a corner taken by Luka Modric. Later, in the 73rd minute, Brazilian forward Vinicius put the game out of reach with a powerful shot that soared into the top corner from outside the penalty area.
The victory was overshadowed for Madrid when defender Dani Carvajal suffered a concerning injury and had to be carried off on a stretcher, visibly emotional.
Madrid is currently in second place in the rankings, sharing 21 points with Barcelona. Meanwhile, LaLiga leaders Barcelona are set to face Alaves, who are positioned 11th, this Sunday.
The reigning champions were looking for a strong showing following their 1-0 defeat to Lille in the Champions League on Wednesday and a 1-1 draw against Atletico Madrid in their last La Liga match.
Villarreal has kicked off their league season positively, securing five victories in nine matches and currently sits in third place with a total of 17 points.
The guests began the match with energy, and just eight minutes in, Real's goalkeeper Andriy Lunin had to step in to stop a risky cross from Nicolas Pépé.
Valverde gave the home team a jump start by scoring early on, thanks to a corner taken by captain Modric. The ball deflected off a Villarreal defender and found its way into the goal.
Before halftime, Jude Bellingham and Kylian Mbappé both had additional opportunities to score, but after the break, the game's tempo decreased.
Villarreal, missing their leading scorer Ayoze Pérez due to injury—who has scored six times this season—almost managed to level the score just after halftime. Álex Baena took a shot at Lunin's goal but ended up hitting the side of the net instead.
Villarreal's defense successfully held off Vinícius as he started to find his rhythm in the second half of the first period.
Nonetheless, the 24-year-old striker managed to score later in the second half, marking his fourth goal in the league this season.
Real Madrid has gone unbeaten in their last 41 LaLiga matches, marking the second-longest streak in the history of the league, just behind Barcelona's 43-game unbeaten run from 2018.
Villarreal made a total of 12 attempts, which was one more than their opponents, but they still left the match empty-handed.
This report includes contributions from Reuters.
