Real Madrid hold on to beat Villarreal after Vinicius Junior sees red

Home Home Latest News Latest News World Footaball World Footaball Nigeria Players Abroad Nigeria Players Abroad Nigeria Premier League Nigeria Premier League National Teams National Teams Videos Videos Super Eagles Super Eagles Transfer News & Rumours Transfer News & Rumours Games Games Real Madrid hold on to beat Villarreal after Vinicius Junior sees red 11 October 2026 World Football Share this with Email Share this with Facebook Share this with Twitter Share this with Whatsapp Yan Diomande scored his first Real Madrid goal to settle a 1-0 win over Villarreal, with the hosts surviving Vinicius Junior’s controversial dismissal to secure a fifth consecutive head-to-head victory.

Real Madrid had already lost two of their opening seven league matches for the first time since 2014/15 and began the game nine points behind leaders Barcelona.

They started with urgency as they attempted to reduce that deficit, but Kylian Mbappe missed an early opportunity to put them ahead, striking the post from six yards inside the opening seven minutes.

Real Madrid had scored first in each of their previous seven LaLiga home matches and continued to create openings. Mbappe was denied again by Peter Gulacsi after a move involving Trent Alexander-Arnold, while Ibrahima Konate and Arda Guler both sent efforts wide.

The home side were jeered off at half-time, prompting Jose Mourinho to make changes at the start of the second half by introducing Marc Cucurella and Vinicius.

Villarreal initially looked the more dangerous after the interval. Alberto Moleiro fired narrowly wide before Thibaut Courtois made a firm save to prevent Pape Gueye from scoring.

Those warnings appeared to stir Real Madrid into action, and the breakthrough came in the 64th minute. Diomande gathered a well-weighted pass from Federico Valverde before driving a precise finish into the bottom corner.

Nine minutes later, Real Madrid appeared to have extended their lead. Vinicius finished from Jude Bellingham’s cut-back, but the goal was overturned by VAR after the Brazilian was judged to have pulled Nathan Saliba’s hair during the build-up. Vinicius was shown a straight red card.

Despite being reduced to 10 men, Real Madrid had a chance to make the result safe when Mbappe was stopped from close range by Gulacsi.

Villarreal pressed for an equaliser, with Georges Mikautadze shooting directly at Courtois, but Real Madrid’s defence resisted the late pressure to claim three important points.

The result extended Real Madrid’s unbeaten head-to-head run against Villarreal to seven matches, comprising six wins and one draw. It was also their fifth successive victory in the fixture.

Federico Valverde was named Flashscore Man of the Match.