Osasuna stuns league leaders Real Madrid
Real Madrid missed the chance to extend their lead at the top of LaLiga as they stumbled to a shock 2-1 loss to Osasuna on Saturday.
With Barcelona not in action until their meeting with Levante on Sunday, Alvaro Arbeloa’s side had the opportunity to move five points clear but were instead handed their first defeat to Osasuna since 2011.
Madrid found themselves on the back foot early on and needed a spectacular stop from Thibaut Courtois to avoid conceding to an early Ante Budimir header, with the Belgian superbly parrying his effort off the line.
Osasuna continued to threaten as Budimir struck the woodwork soon after, and the Croatian was eventually rewarded for his persistence when he was controversially felled inside the box by Courtois in the 38th minute.
Budimir made no mistake from 12 yards out, sending his spot kick into the bottom left corner with ease to put Osasuna ahead, though Arda Guler saw a powerful effort fly narrowly wide minutes after the break.
Kylian Mbappe thought he had found a way back as he flashed a typical finish into the far corner, but the goal was ruled out for an offside against him.
Vinicius Junior restored parity to give Madrid hope of a late comeback as he pounced to meet Fede Valverde's superb low cross. Moments later, Mbappe saw an effort cleared off the line, further sparking optimism, but it was not to be for the visitors.
Dani Ceballos’ loose giveaway ultimately proved costly, allowing Raul Moro to race forward and tee up Raul Garcia, who cut inside Raul Asencio before curling a brilliant finish past Courtois to seal all three points and send El Sadar into raptures.
