Dani Carvajal scored a goal in the ninth minute of stoppage time to lead Real Madrid to a hard-fought 3-2 victory over Almeria in a Spanish Football League match that witnessed controversial refereeing decisions on Sunday.
Almeria, at the bottom of the standings without a win after 21 matches, advanced with two goals scored by Larji Ramazani and Edgar Gonzalez in the first half.
Almeria surprises Hassan Al-Aidaroos and Real Madrid with an early goal 😅#La Liga #beINLiga #LaLiga pic.twitter.com/41c5ReR7nS
— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) January 21, 2024
But Real Madrid reduced the gap in the 56th minute from a penalty kick scored by Jude Bellingham. Real won the penalty kick for a touch after a long VAR review.
Sergio Arribas, the Almeria player, thought he had scored the third goal, but the referee canceled it after referring to the video assistant referee due to a violation committed by Almeria midfielder Dion Lopi against Bellingham at the beginning of the attack that led to the goal.
Five minutes later, the video assistant referee intervened again after the referee canceled a goal scored by Vinicius Junior, thinking that the ball had hit his arm, but he changed his mind and counted the goal, saying that the player had hit the ball with his shoulder.
In the ninth minute of stoppage time, Bellingham played a cross that reached Carvajal, who put the ball into the net from close range.
Carvajal lights up the Bernabeu stands 🔥🏟️#La Liga #beINLiga #LaLiga pic.twitter.com/Ez9Ks1LVml
— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) January 21, 2024
Real rose to the top of the league with 51 points, two ahead of Girona, which hosts Sevilla later today.
