VILA REAL: Real Madrid suffered a 2-1 defeat at Villarreal on Saturday after a goal and assist from striker Gerard Moreno, giving leaders Barcelona a chance to move ahead in the title race.

Yeremy Pino opened the scoring for Villarreal just after the break before Real levelled through Karim Benzema’s penalty in the 60th minute, but parity lasted only three minutes as Moreno also fired home from the spot to secure the points.

Real stay second, level on 38 points with Barca who visit fourth-placed Atletico Madrid on Sunday, while Villarreal’s third straight league win moves them up to fifth spot.Villarreal were relentless after the break and the pressure told in the 47th minute when Moreno set Yeremy free to charge at goal and unleash a fierce shot into the net.

Madrid grew into the game following Villarreal’s goal, with Benzema and Vinicius Jr continuing to orchestrate the champions’ attacking efforts.

Juan Foyth appeared to have kept Villarreal ahead with a heroic goal-line block to deny Benzema in the 56th minute but, following a VAR intervention, the referee awarded Real a penalty for handball by the defender in the build-up to his block.

The spot kick was expertly dispatched by Benzema but Villarreal were awarded a penalty of their own two minutes later when a falling David Alaba unluckily handled the ball.

Moreno converted after Madrid’s protests had calmed down, sending Courtois the wrong way to put his side back in the lead.

Alaba will leave the Estadio de la Ceramica feeling hard done by after his outstretched arm inadvertently touched the ball as he attempted to soften the impact of his fall.

But Real coach Carlo Ancelotti agreed with the decision, telling reporters, “the two penalties were correct according to the rules so of course the referee has to respect it.”

Elsewhere, Cadiz won 1-0 away to Valencia at Estadio Mestalla. Ruben Alcaraz’s early strike was enough for Cadiz as the win moved them out of the relegation zone. Mallorca also recorded a 1-0 victory as they downed Real Valladolid at Mallorca San Moix Stadium.

Published in Dawn, January 9th, 2023