Madrid, Feb 18 (EFE).- The insistence of the Brazilian Vini Jr, despite bumping into Sergio Herrera three times, and his assist to the Uruguayan Fede Valverde gave Real Madrid a difficult victory against Osasuna in El Sadar (0- 2) that allows him to stay alive in LaLiga Santander.
Carlo Ancelotti’s team pulled through the hard exam in Pamplona with some difficulties, as expected, against a well-worked, disciplined and dangerous rival like Jagoba Arrasate’s, always a tough stumbling block, as was demonstrated on matchday seven at the Santiago Bernabéu , by becoming the first team to snatch a point from Real Madrid this season in the league tournament.
With Liverpool just around the corner, he did it with notable casualties, such as Karim Benzema, Toni Kroos and Aurelien Tchouameni, mainly, but he knew how to put on his overalls and found the prize in a victory that puts him five points behind from Barcelona, who this Sunday will host Cádiz. A defeat would have been disastrous and would have put him even closer to the ko
Osasuna’s tireless pressure, which ended up chaining its fifth game in a row without winning, made life difficult for Ancelotti’s pupils, during many stretches unable to unravel it and create play, so they had to entrust their most unbalancing man, perhaps the unique, to get closer to victory.
Vinicius had three one-on-ones with Sergio Herrera that he couldn’t take advantage of. The Osasunista goalkeeper, who regained ownership, was remarkably inspired by the Brazilian player, whose insistence is unquestionable despite his mistake at the finish.
Osasuna, who had his options and even sent a ball to a post through Moi Gómez, ended up giving in to the Brazilian, who unbalanced the game with a measured pass to Fede Valverde that the Uruguayan did not miss. Even after Vini scored, but VAR ruled it out for offside.
Real Madrid managed the last few minutes well, with the young Uruguayan striker Álvaro Rodríguez very active, and Marco Asensio, who had replaced Dani Ceballos, put the icing on the cake in the extension on the Uruguayan’s pass.
Real Sociedad once again took a step back and is now eight points behind Ancelotti’s team. He stumbled back into the Reale Arena. In their previous home game they lost to Valladolid. This time he let two points escape against Celta (1-1) when he had the game in hand, but between his inability to score and the misfortune of Frenchman Robin Le Normand’s own goal in extra time, the game slipped through his fingers. .
Everything turned upside down for Imanol Alguacil’s team when Mikel Oyarzábal opened the scoring after five minutes. He even had a numerical advantage in the last quarter of an hour, when the Peruvian Renato Tapia saw two consecutive yellow cards.
He did not know how to finish the job and he paid dearly for it. Iago Aspas, captain and benchmark of the Portuguese team Carlos Carvalhal, was once again decisive. They were on the verge of equalizing with a very distant shot that surprised Álex Remiro and went wide and in the extension, in the midst of Celta’s desperate attack, his cross into the area was introduced by Le Normand into his goal to frustrate Real Sociedad and award a very important point for his team in his relentless fight to get away from danger.
Even so, Real Sociedad remains third and consolidated in the Champions League, which Betis does not renounce, which was reunited with victory at the Benito Villamarín, by beating Valladolid 2-1 with Sergio Canales as the star protagonist.
The team of the Chilean Manuel Pellegrini had not won at home in LaLiga Santander since October 16 (3-1 against Almería) and the Cantabrian footballer was in charge of defining the result already in the first part.
Two minutes later, he invented a magnificent pass to Juanmi Jiménez that he did not miss and in the extension converted a penalty committed by the Cameroonian Martin Hongla on Ayoze Pérez with which he once again unbalanced the game that the Canadian Cyle Larin (m. 30), the new goal man for the Valladolid team.
But Betis did not have a good time. He suffered even to win. He did not materialize his chances and José Rojo ‘Pacheta”s men had theirs, such as a free-kick from Monchu Rodríguez hitting the post. Not even the injury to goalkeeper Jordi Masip and the debut of the youngster Álvaro Aceves at the age of 19 diminished his ambition and until the end they put pressure on Pellegrini’s block, fifth, one point behind Atlético de Madrid, who will host Athletic this Sunday, another team immersed in the European struggle.
The one that has been absolutely stagnant is Villarreal. They suffered their fourth consecutive defeat in Palma (4-2) and lost the option of returning, at least provisionally, to the continental tournament zone.
Quite the opposite of the Mallorca of the Mexican Javier Aguirre, absolutely full in his fiefdom, in which he has won his last five games, including the duels against Atlético de Madrid and Real Madrid, and is already tied at 31 points with Villarreal.
Mallorca, used to winning 1-0, lost their hair against Villarreal who ended up giving up after equalizing the goals of the Balearic team on two occasions and who paid dearly for their own mistakes.
In a minute the game was uphill for Quique Setién’s team. He conceded the first goal after a mistake by Pepe Reina when trying to combine with Raúl Albiol that the Kosovar Vedat Muriqi and the Zimbabwean Tino Kadewere took advantage of and lost Manu Trigueros right after with a direct red card for hitting Dani Rodríguez in the face.
Even so, he had arrests to tie through José Luis Morales (m.43) and not sink after Dani Rodríguez sent the game 2-1 at halftime, because the Nigerian Samu Chukwueze (m.50), with a subtle touch , raised the 2-2 to electronic in a vibrant and attractive clash.
On the other hand, another mistake, in the mark at the exit of a corner, ended up definitively unbalancing the balance. Dani Rodríguez (m.56) scored his second goal with a header and Mallorca no longer gave any other option.
Shortly after Muriqi (m.63) ended his drought (he hadn’t scored in the league since before the World Cup) and with the game to certify a new party in Son Moix and accumulate another disappointment in the ‘yellow submarine’.
Jose Antonio Pascual
