MADRID: Real Madrid recovered from a goal down to beat Mallorca 2-1 at the Bernabeu on Saturday as the home side made light of having three goals chalked off after VAR reviews to make it three wins out of three in La Liga this season.
What should have been a comfortable victory for the home side left fans with their nerves jangling, however, and they needed a goalline clearance from Alvaro Carreras to secure the three points.
Kylian Mbappe was the first to have a goal overturned by VAR when he pounced to score from a superb ball by Trent Alexander-Arnold in the seventh minute, but the review found him to be marginally offside.
Mallorca took a shock lead 11 minutes later when striker Vedat Muriqi muscled his way into the middle of the penalty area at a corner to steer the ball into the net with a combination of his back and shoulder.
Real levelled in the 37th minute after a superbly-worked corner that led to Dean Huijsen teeing up 20-year-old Arda Guler to score with a close-range header.
Vinicius Jr gave his side the lead a minute later, surging forward before cutting back on to his left foot and sending a bouncing shot low into the far corner.
Without a win this season, Mallorca played a clever game and tried to hit Madrid on the break, but the home side had too much quality in attack, and Mbappe had another goal chalked off in first-half stoppage time.
Guler was the next to taste disappointment as his effort 10 minutes after the break was ruled out when a VAR review found him guilty of handball in the build-up, and the home side had Carreras to thank when he pulled off a tremendous goalline clearance to prevent Mallorca from equalising.
Real Madrid rally to beat Mallorca 2-1 despite VAR woes
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Real Madrid rally to beat Mallorca 2-1 despite VAR woes
- Without a win this season, Mallorca played a clever game and tried to hit Madrid on the break, but the home side had too much quality in attack
Guardiola hails Man City’s ‘massive’ win over Newcastle
- Guardiola’s second-placed side closed the gap on leaders Arsenal to just two points with their tense victory at the Etihad Stadium
MANCHESTER, United Kingdom: Pep Guardiola labelled Manchester City’s 2-1 win over Newcastle on Saturday as a “massive” moment in the Premier League title race.
Guardiola’s second-placed side closed the gap on leaders Arsenal to just two points with their tense victory at the Etihad Stadium.
Nico O’Reilly put City ahead in the first half and restored the lead before half-time after Lewis Hall had equalized.
City weren’t at their best in the second half, but they held on to pile pressure on spluttering Arsenal, who travel to Tottenham for the north London derby on Sunday.
Guardiola knew it was essential to make Arsenal sweat.
“Massive. Newcastle is an incredible team, awesome in physicality and speed they have up front. Physicality in the middle. Really tough but the team was unbelievable,” he said.
“It’s coming in best part of the season. Every single game will be similar to today.”
After finishing without a trophy last season, City are back in the hunt for the seventh English title of Guardiola’s reign.
They will have a game in hand on Arsenal after this weekend and are guaranteed to win the title if they win their last 11 league matches.
Guardiola has embarked on an expensive overhaul of City’s squad in the last 12 months, shedding aging stars like Kevin De Bruyne, Ederson and Kyle Walker and bringing in the likes of Marc Guehi, Antoine Semenyo and Rayan Cherki.
The Spaniard is well aware that his new generation largely lacks the experience of winning under the pressure of a title race, which made their gritty success against Newcastle even more meaningful.
“70 percent of the players have never been in that situation, and I don’t play. So we have to live it, they know that every game will be like this,” he said.
“Especially at home, with five home games left. Today was the best crowd of the year, it was unbelievable with our people, really proud to be manager of these incredible people and fans.
“Of course in terms of points it’s important, but we have to improve to have chance to compete until the end. Now we deserve three more days off. Then another battle in Leeds.”
Guardiola singled out O’Reilly for praise after the young England midfielder’s pair of clinical finishes showed he won’t be affected by the strain of chasing Arsenal.
“Nico give us in the middle that physicality that we need. He now plays in his position,” he said.
“He has always played that, he is so complete and so young. I am really pleased the academy produced these incredible players, Nico, Phil (Foden), Rico (Lewis).”
