Valencia Defeat Real Madrid To Boost Relegation Survival Hopes
Valencia recorded a stunning 2-1 win over Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu on Saturday to boost their chances of surviving the drop in La Liga.
The defeat is also a dent to Real Madrid’s title hopes, with the defending champions trailing leaders Barcelona by three points.
The hosts started on a lively note, but Vinicius Junior failed to score from the penalty spot in the 11th minute after Kylian Mbappe was fouled by Cesar Tarrega.
Four minutes later, Valencia opened the scoring through Diakhaby, who powered in a glancing header to make it 1-0.
Diakhaby almost turned into a villain a few minutes later while trying to clear the ball out of safety before he diverted it into his own net. But VAR came to his rescue because Mbappé was in an offside position in the build-up.
Valencia’s Mamardashvili produced a stunning save to deny Mbappe just before half-time as the visitors held on to take a 1-0 lead into the break.
Five minutes after the resumption of the second half, Vinicius Junior brought Real Madrid back into the game with a near-post finish to make it 1-1.
Hugo Duro stunned the Santiago Bernabéu fans with a 95th-minute winner to hand Valencia their first away win of the season.
He finished off a brilliant cross from Lopez with a well-placed header to grab the maximum points for Valencia, which will go a long way in helping their relegation fight.
The victory moved Valencia up to 15th on the log after spending the whole season in the relegation zone.
Ancelotti will be hoping to psych his players up ahead of the Champions League quarter-final clash against Arsenal on Tuesday.
As for Valencia, they will take on Sevilla in a La Liga encounter on Friday at the Mestalla Stadium.
Valencia Defeat Real Madrid To Boost Relegation Survival Hopes is first published on The Whistler Newspaper
