Real Madrid, reduced to ten men, defeats Alaves 1-0 following Mbappe's red card
Defending La Liga champions Real Madrid secured a tense 1-0 victory against relegation-threatened Deportivo Alaves on Sunday, following a reckless foul by Kylian Mbappe that left the visitors with 10 men late in the first half. Eduardo Camavinga...
TroibNews 
Defending La Liga champions Real Madrid secured a tense 1-0 victory against relegation-threatened Deportivo Alaves on Sunday, following a reckless foul by Kylian Mbappe that left the visitors with 10 men late in the first half.
Eduardo Camavinga put Real ahead in the 34th minute with a stunning curled shot from outside the box, after an earlier goal by Raul Asencio was disallowed due to a VAR review.
Mbappe received a straight red card for a violent tackle on Alaves midfielder Antonio Blanco, leaving Real short-handed before halftime. However, the teams were equal in numbers once again in the second half, as Manu Sanchez was sent off in the 70th minute for a similar foul on Vinicius Jr.
With this win, Real Madrid, who currently sit in second place, have accumulated 66 points from 31 matches and trail leaders Barcelona by four points, following Barcelona's narrow 1-0 victory over Leganes on Saturday.
The past week has been challenging for Real, who suffered a 3-0 defeat against Arsenal in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League quarterfinal clash. They have faced difficulties in all competitions this month as they work to close the gap on Barcelona.
Real was without their suspended coach Carlo Ancelotti, who received his fifth yellow card during last weekend's loss to Valencia. Ancelotti observed the match from the stands while his son and assistant coach, Davide Ancelotti, took charge on the sidelines.
Amid the presence of Spain's national team coach Luis de la Fuente, defender Asencio thought he had opened the scoring for Real after 19 minutes with a header from a corner. However, his goal was disallowed after a VAR check revealed he had leveraged himself by holding onto an Alaves defender, while Antonio Ruediger had also knocked down goalkeeper Jesus Owono during the same play.
Camavinga finally gave Real the lead 15 minutes later, scoring inside the left post after executing a clever one-two with Federico Valverde. This marked the midfielder's first league goal since March 2022.
The visitors faced a tricky situation in the 38th minute when Mbappe was shown a straight red card for taking down Blanco, as the referee overturned an initial yellow card decision after consulting VAR.
After halftime, Alaves managed to seize possession and put pressure on Thibaut Courtois, with forward Carlos Martin testing the goalkeeper with a low shot from outside the area during a tense moment for the hosts.
The game became ten versus ten when Alaves defender Sanchez also saw red for fouling Vinicius. In the closing moments, Owono prevented a close-range effort from Jude Bellingham, and the match concluded with a 1-0 scoreline.
Sophie Wagner contributed to this article for TROIB News
Eduardo Camavinga put Real ahead in the 34th minute with a stunning curled shot from outside the box, after an earlier goal by Raul Asencio was disallowed due to a VAR review.
Mbappe received a straight red card for a violent tackle on Alaves midfielder Antonio Blanco, leaving Real short-handed before halftime. However, the teams were equal in numbers once again in the second half, as Manu Sanchez was sent off in the 70th minute for a similar foul on Vinicius Jr.
With this win, Real Madrid, who currently sit in second place, have accumulated 66 points from 31 matches and trail leaders Barcelona by four points, following Barcelona's narrow 1-0 victory over Leganes on Saturday.
The past week has been challenging for Real, who suffered a 3-0 defeat against Arsenal in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League quarterfinal clash. They have faced difficulties in all competitions this month as they work to close the gap on Barcelona.
Real was without their suspended coach Carlo Ancelotti, who received his fifth yellow card during last weekend's loss to Valencia. Ancelotti observed the match from the stands while his son and assistant coach, Davide Ancelotti, took charge on the sidelines.
Amid the presence of Spain's national team coach Luis de la Fuente, defender Asencio thought he had opened the scoring for Real after 19 minutes with a header from a corner. However, his goal was disallowed after a VAR check revealed he had leveraged himself by holding onto an Alaves defender, while Antonio Ruediger had also knocked down goalkeeper Jesus Owono during the same play.
Camavinga finally gave Real the lead 15 minutes later, scoring inside the left post after executing a clever one-two with Federico Valverde. This marked the midfielder's first league goal since March 2022.
The visitors faced a tricky situation in the 38th minute when Mbappe was shown a straight red card for taking down Blanco, as the referee overturned an initial yellow card decision after consulting VAR.
After halftime, Alaves managed to seize possession and put pressure on Thibaut Courtois, with forward Carlos Martin testing the goalkeeper with a low shot from outside the area during a tense moment for the hosts.
The game became ten versus ten when Alaves defender Sanchez also saw red for fouling Vinicius. In the closing moments, Owono prevented a close-range effort from Jude Bellingham, and the match concluded with a 1-0 scoreline.
Sophie Wagner contributed to this article for TROIB News
