Real Madrid beat Villarreal 1-0, but the talking point was Vinícius Júnior, who had a goal disallowed and was sent off for pulling an opponent’s hair, 20 minutes after coming on. He has apologised, and now waits to learn whether he will be banned for the Clásico against Barcelona.
Real Madrid beat Villarreal 1-0 at the Santiago Bernabéu on Saturday, October 10, but finished with 10 men after Vinícius Júnior was sent off, Al Jazeera reported, citing news agencies.
Match Summary
| Result | Real Madrid 1-0 Villarreal |
| Scorer | Yan Diomande |
| Sent off | Vinícius Júnior, violent conduct |
| Gap to leaders Barcelona | Six points |
The Red Card
Vinícius came on as a substitute in the 52nd minute. Twenty minutes later he thought he had scored Madrid’s second goal, and coach José Mourinho ran to join the celebrations.
The video assistant referee then called referee Isidro Díaz de Mera to the screen. The replay showed Vinícius pulling the hair of Villarreal’s Nathan Saliba in the build-up. The goal was ruled out and the Brazilian was shown a red card.
He reacted furiously and had to be held back by team-mates. The referee wrote in his report that Vinícius “protested my decision, raising his voice, toward where I was standing in an aggressive manner”.
The Apology
After the match Vinícius posted on social media: “sorry to the team and the fans”.
“I don’t think he meant to hurt anyone, but it is a red card,” said Villarreal defender Juan Foyth.
Will He Miss the Clásico?
Under Royal Spanish Football Federation rules, pulling an opponent’s hair counts as violent conduct. The disciplinary committee will decide the length of his ban.
The punishment for violent conduct that causes no injury is a ban of one to three matches, according to the report. Real Madrid’s next three league games are against Sevilla, Barcelona and Racing Santander, so a ban of two matches or more would rule the 26-year-old out of the Clásico.
The Winning Goal
The only goal came from Yan Diomande, the Ivorian winger who is Madrid’s record signing at €140 million ($157 million). It was his first for the club, a low finish into the far corner after good work by Federico Valverde.
Mbappé Starts
Kylian Mbappé was fit to start after a knee problem. There were some whistles for him from the home crowd, and also applause. He hit the post in the first half.
Vinícius had been left on the bench after travelling to Australia and India with Brazil during the international break.
Image: Real Madrid players celebrate winning the 2023 Copa del Rey final in Seville (file photo). Photo: Junta de Andalucía / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
