MADRID (Reuters) – Real Madrid were held to a 1-1 draw by Girona at the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday but the reigning champions maintained their unbeaten streak in LaLiga and hold a one-point lead over Barcelona.
After a goalless first half, Real opened the scoring through Vinicius Jr in the 70th minute but their lead was cancelled out by a Cristhian Stuani penalty 10 minutes later.
Real were frustrated for more than an hour but finally made the breakthrough when their patient build-up play allowed Federico Valverde to put the ball into the six-yard box where Vinicius was on hand to tap it into the net.
Girona were handed a lifeline when Marco Asensio handled the ball in the box and the referee awarded a penalty following a VAR check, with Stuani stepping up to the spot and sending Thibaut Courtois the wrong way to level the score.
Real’s Rodrygo thought he had won the game at the death when he fought for the ball in a goalmouth scramble with Girona goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga, but the referee disallowed his goal as the keeper was in control of the ball when the Brazilian bundled it in.
Real’s match only got worse when midfielder Toni Kroos was sent off in added time after receiving a second yellow card. Girona, who are 16th in the standings, came away with a precious point as their players sank to the ground in relief.
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; editing by Clare Fallon)
