Valencia and Real Madrid settle for controversial draw

Real Madrid came back from two goals down but decisions by Gil Manzano, and VAR, marred the draw against Valencia.

Los Che went two goals up in the first half with Hugo Duro heading a ball to open the score in the 27th minute. Still riding the high from the opening goal, Dani Carvajal delivered an errant pass back to the goalkeeper. It wasn't hit with enough strength and was intercepted by Roman Yaremchuk who doubled the Valencia lead.

Vinicius Junior, who already had a spotlight on him heading into the match, cut the lead in half in the fifth minute of added time in the first half. The five minutes of added time was the first decision by Manzano that raised eyebrows.

It took until the 76th minute for Real Madrid to find the equalizer but did so through Vinicius Junior who ended up on the receiving end of a cross from Carvajal. This was the second significant controversial decision as replay showed Vinicius was slightly offside. However, the goal stood.

A horrible injury to Diakhaby late in the game brought down the tense atmosphere. He suffered a knee injury after Aurelien Tchouameni fell on him; a complete accident. The reaction of the players from both sides gave away the extent of the injury.

The stoppage seemed to motivate Valencia who threatened late in the game. They thought they had a chance at the winning goal as the were awarded a penalty in stoppage time. But VAR correctly overturned the initial decision.

Despite giving seven minutes of stoppage time, Madrid picked up a corner in the 98th minute in what was to be the final play of the game. The corner was taken and cleared. A millisecond before Madrid sent in an ensuing cross, Gil Manzano whistled for the end of the game. The play continued, however, and Jude Bellingham scored.

Chaos ensued when the Real Madrid players realized the goal wasn't going to count. Bellingham ran straight toward the referee and said something. Whatever he said must have been enough for the referee to show him a red card.

All their complaints weren't going to make a difference as the game ended in a 2-2 draw.

Unsurprisingly, the talking point is the decision to end the game before the goal was scored. The fact of the matter is Real Madrid drop 2 points, giving Girona and, to a lesser extent, Barcelona a chance to cut their lead atop the league table. Girona can pull within 3 points and Barcelona within 6.

Real Madrid must now turn their attention to the Champions League as they host RB Leipzig and have only a one-goal advantage. A couple of weeks ago it looked like they had LaLiga all but wrapped up. Now they could potentially have both Catalan sides breathing down their neck.