Vallecano
European roundup: Real Madrid denied by Rayo Vallecano’s Raúl de Tomás
The Spanish league leaders Real Madrid were held to a 1-1 draw at their city neighbours Rayo Vallecano on Sunday as Joselu’s early strike was cancelled out by Raúl de Tomás’s penalty, a result that could spice up the title race with the surprise contenders Girona.
After dealing what could have been a massive blow to Girona’s title hopes by thrashing them 4-0 last week, a wasteful Real Madrid stumbled at Vallecas and could see the Catalan upstarts edge closer in the rear mirror once again. The draw saw Carlo Ancelotti’s side move to 62 points, six points ahead of second-placed Girona who have a game in hand at Athletic Bilbao on Monday.
Joselu gave Real Madrid the lead after they took advantage of a wasted opportunity by the Rayo forward De Tomás that allowed the visitors to start a quick counterattack. Brahim Díaz delivered a brilliant long pass into the stride of Federico Valverde who, unmarked on the right wing, put the ball on a plate for Joselu with a low cross that the Spanish forward only had to tap into the empty goal. His effort was at first ruled out for offside by the linesman but VAR quickly corrected the decision as the Spanish forward was clearly onside.
Real dominated proceedings with up to 65% possession but were wasteful and allowed the hosts to equalise in the 27th minute with De Tomás’s penalty after the VAR spotted a handball by the midfielder Eduardo Camavinga.
Missing the injured England midfielder Jude Bellingham, Real were on top in the second half but failed to take their chances. The disgruntled visitors were reduced to 10 men in added time when the 75th-minute substitute Dani Carvajal was shown two yellow cards in two minutes.
In France Monaco suffered a 2-1 loss to Toulouse as Vincent Sierro and Logan Costa struck in each half to help the visitors ease their relegation fears in Ligue 1 at Stade Louis II on Sunday.
The loss meant Monaco sit in fourth place with 38 points from 22 matches, while Toulouse rise to 13th in the Ligue 1 table, one point off the relegation play-off spot.
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