Vinicius sent off for hair-pulling in dramatic win
Real Madrid held on for a 1-0 victory against Villarreal after Vinicius Junior was shown a straight red card for pulling an opponent's hair, minutes after scoring what he had thought was a second goal of the night.
Yan Diomande scored his first goal for Los Blancos, and his strike was enough to secure all three points at Estadio Bernabeu, but Madrid's return to the winners' circle was marred by Vinicius's sending-off.
After Pape Gueye dragged wide early on, Kylian Mbappe struck the woodwork in the seventh minute as he could not divert his left-footed attempt from Alvaro Carreras's cross on target.
Mbappe went close again before the break, shooting straight at Peter Gulacsi after a brilliant lofted pass from Trent Alexander-Arnold, while Arda Guler failed to test the Villarreal goalkeeper from a tight angle.
Madrid finally broke the deadlock in the 62nd minute as Diomande took in a pass from Federico Valverde and arrowed a strike into the bottom-left corner, but the hosts were dealt a blow 10 minutes later.
Vinicius thought he had doubled Madrid's lead after converting from Jude Bellingham's cut-back, but the goal was ruled out and the Brazilian was instead shown a red card as he had pulled Nathan Saliba's hair in the build-up to the goal.
Thibaut Courtois was alert to deny Carlos Romero and Georges Mikautadze late on as Madrid managed to absorb the pressure and hold on for the victory.
Vinícius José Paixão de Oliveira Júnior
Real Madrid CF
Yan Diomande
Real Madrid CF
