Real Mallorca 1-0 Real Madrid: Asensio penalty saved as Los Blancos fail to close gap on Barca

By Sports Desk February 05, 2023

Marco Asensio missed a penalty as Nacho's own goal condemned Real Madrid to a surprise 1-0 defeat against mid-table Real Mallorca in LaLiga on Sunday.

Madrid fell behind when stand-in captain Nacho deflected Vedat Muqiri's header beyond Andriy Lunin – a late replacement for the injured Thibaut Courtois – 13 minutes in.

The champions toiled for long periods without absent striker Karim Benzema, and they missed a golden chance to level when Predrag Rajkovic saved Asensio's second-half penalty.

The result meant Los Blancos missed the chance to close the gap on LaLiga leaders Barcelona ahead of their fixture against Sevilla later on Sunday, handing the Blaugrana the chance to move eight points clear.

Fresh from three successive home wins, Mallorca wasted little time in taking the lead. Muriqi met Dani Gonzalez's inswinging cross, and his flicked header deflected off Nacho before looping over Lunin. 

Madrid controlled the remainder of a scrappy first half but failed to register a single shot on target before the break, with the likes of Federico Valverde and Antonio Rudiger restricted to ambitious long-range efforts that cleared the crossbar.

The visitors were presented with a wonderful opportunity to equalise on the hour mark when a VAR review ruled Rajkovic had fouled Vinicius Junior. However, the goalkeeper atoned for his error by guessing correctly to brilliantly deny Asensio. 

Ancelotti introduced the likes of Luka Modric and Toni Kroos in a bid to inspire Madrid, who had lost just once in their nine previous away games against Mallorca prior to Sunday's meeting.

Substitute Mariano Diaz volleyed narrowly over and Rudiger sent a header wide late on, but the stubborn hosts clung on to deal a huge blow to the champions' title defence.

 

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    Real Madrid went level on points with rivals Barcelona at the LaLiga summit following their 2-0 triumph over high-flying Villarreal on Saturday.

    The hosts opened the scoring in stunning fashion when Luka Modric's short corner was dummied by Jude Bellingham for Federico Valverde, with the Uruguayan taking aim from distance and finding the bottom corner with the aid of a deflection. 

    But Villarreal, who had won back-to-back league games heading into the encounter at the Bernabeu, responded almost immediately when Nicolas Pepe's header rattled the crossbar before Thierno Barry nodded over. 

    Los Blancos had further chances to increase their lead, but Antonio Rudiger sent an effort over the bar before Bellingham's long-range effort sailed wide of the post.

    But the victory was sealed 17 minutes from time with another sensational strike, this time Vinicius Junior tried his luck from long-range and curled a superb strike beyond the grasp of Diego Conde after being found by Valverde. 

    The result, however, was overshadowed by a nasty injury in second-half stoppage time to Dani Carvajal, with the Spaniard leaving the pitch on a stretcher and in tears after a collision with Yeremy Pino. 

    Data Debrief: Wonder goals save Los Blancos

    Madrid's two strikes against Villarreal both came from outside the box, as many as they had scored in their previous 39 goals in LaLiga. 

    But Carlo Ancelotti's side were far from their very best at the Bernabeu. They managed to muster an expected goals (xG) total of just 0.47 compared to Villarreal's 0.62, with only two of Los Blancos' 11 shots on target. 

    Valverde, however, impressed for Madrid, creating the joint-most chances alongside Modric (three), while also completing more accurate passes (77) than any other player on the pitch. 

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