MADRID: Karim Benzema missed a late penalty for Real Madrid as they finally blinked in the La Liga title race, dropping their first points of the season in a 1-1 draw with Osasuna on Sunday.

Elsewhere Real Sociedad won 5-3 at Girona and high-flying Real Betis fell to a 1-0 defeat at Celta Vigo.

After Barcelona beat Real Mallorca on Saturday, Real knew they had to win to stay top but were frustrated by Jagoba Arrasate’s well-organised side at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Benzema, on his return to the side after injury, fired his penalty off the bar and over in the 79th minute after being fouled inside the area by defender Unai Garcia, who was shown a straight red card after a VAR check, and also had a goal disallowed for offside as Real tried to force a way through.

Vinicius Junior broke the deadlock just before half-time with a cross that snuck all the way into the far corner, but Kike Garcia scored with a brilliant header from the edge of the area that looped over the goalkeeper early in the second period earned Osasuna a point.

“We deserved the win but we missed a penalty. Its normal, setbacks happen. This is football,” Real coach Carlo Ancelotti told DAZN.

“What we were missing was scoring that penalty, normally Karim scores them. He had no problem playing the 90 minutes. It’s been a month since he’s played, he has to get his best form back. He did his part, , he had the penalty chance after a very good play but missed it. It’s an accident that sometimes happens. We have to move forward.”

Real are level with rivals Barcelona on 19 points at the top of standings, with Barca ahead on goal difference. The point at Santiago Bernabeu lifted Osasuna to sixth on 13 points.

Earlier Real Sociedad, seventh, came out on top after an eight-goal thriller at Montilivi.

Norwegian striker Alexander Sorloth hit a first-half brace for the visitors either side of goals for Girona’s Rodrigo Riquelme and Arnau Martinez.

Valentin Castellanos put Girona ahead but Brais Mendez and Martin Zubimendi struck in the space of six minutes to restore the Basque side’s lead.

Takefusa Kubo made the game safe for La Real late on.

Real Betis fell to a narrow defeat at Celta Vigo, playing most of the game with 10 men after Luiz Felipe’s 20th-minute red card.

Gabriel Veiga slammed home in the opening stages from distance for the hosts at Balaidos and they moved 10th while Betis remained fourth.

Espanyol and Valencia shared a thrilling 2-2 draw which saw both sides reduced to 10 men after red cards for Martin Braithwaite and Marcos Andre respectively.

Published in Dawn, October 4th, 2022