Real Madrid 2-1 Vallecano: Rodrygo nets crucial winner to send Real back to 2nd

Rodrygo’s late goal earned Real Madrid a hard-fought 2-1 win over Rayo Vallecano and lifted them back above Atletico Madrid into second in La Liga.

A drab encounter came to life in the closing 10 minutes as the visitors drew level through substitute Raul de Tomas in the 84th minute after Karim Benzema’s first-half goal, before Rodrygo struck the decisive blow to leave Rayo languishing in 11th.

It was the first game since Vinicius Junior was on the receiving end of racist abuse from Valencia fans and rightly that dominated the build-up, with Madrid players and fans paying tribute to their 22-year-old forward.

Vinicius had his three-match red card ban overturned by La Liga in the wake of the controversy, but Carlo Ancelotti still decided to leave him out of the matchday squad due to what was reported as a minor knee injury, as the Italian manager made seven changes to his starting line-up in a bid to arrest a run of two consecutive defeats.

Luka Modric and Toni Kroos returned in midfield, but it was Benzema who made the difference for Los Blancos in the 31st minute when he ruthlessly took advantage of an uncontested drop ball for his 30th goal of the season.

Isi Palazon and Antonio Rudiger came together on the edge of the Rayo Vallecano area, with the referee calling a drop ball, but rather than playing back towards his own goal, the French forward fed Federico Valverde, who returned the favour before Benzema rounded Stole Dimitrievski and tapped into the empty net.

It was as opportunistic as it was controversial, with the Rayo players and manager Andoni Iraola incensed the goal was allowed to stand.

That appeared to take the stuffing out of the visitors until De Tomas fired a shot underneath Thibaut Courtois six minutes from time in what will have felt like justice, only for Rodrygo to coolly find the corner and snatch the victory.

Up next for Madrid is a trip to Sevilla, while Rayo Vallecano host Villareal.

Match Events

25' ClOSE! Santi’s shot saved by Courtois!

31' GOAL! Real Madrid 1-0 Vallecano (Benzema)

33' SAVE! Fine stop from world-class Courtois

45' Rodrygo misses a good chance!

56' Carvajal fires his shot into the sky

60' Yellow Card! Carvajal booked

84' GOAL! Real Madrid 1-1 Vallecano (Raúl de Tomás)

89' GOAL! Real Madrid 2-1 Vallecano (Benzema)

Line-ups

Real Madrid XI: Modric, Benzema, Kroos, Alaba, Courtois, Nacho, Carvajal, Rudiger, Valverde, Rodrygo, Eduardo Camavinga

Subs: Hazard, Vazquez, Odriozola, F Mendy, Vallejo, Asensio, Ceballos, Militao, Andriy Lunin, Aurélien Tchouaméni, Luis López, Álvaro Rodríguez

Vallecano XI: Lejeune, Stole Dimitrievski, Balliu, Unai López, Álvaro García, Óscar Valentín, Isi Palazón, Santi Comesaña, Fran García, Alejandro Catena, Sergio Camello

Subs: Óscar Trejo, Falcao, Raúl de Tomás, Salvi Sánchez, José Pozo, Esteban Saveljich, Abdul Mumin, Pathé Ciss, Andrés Martín, Mario Hernández, Miguel Morro, Pep Chavarría