Betis pulled off a major upset and handed Real Madrid its first loss of this LaLiga season, winning 1-0 at “Cartuja” in a match that turned into a real thriller for La Liga’s fourth matchday!
Manuel Pellegrini’s team was extremely competitive and gave Real a hard time from the very first minutes, even creating several key chances to open the scoring. On the other hand, “Los Blancos” had their own big chances, with Vinícius hitting the crossbar in the 15th minute, while Álvaro Vallejas made some impressive saves.
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The breakthrough for the home team came in the 81st minute. Troy Parrott capitalized on the chaos inside Real’s penalty area, picked up the rebound from a difficult save by Thibaut Courtois, and sent the ball into the net for a 1-0 lead, sending the stands into a frenzy.
Real Madrid tried to respond immediately and hit the crossbar with Kylian Mbappé in the 85th minute, and in the 87th minute, they nearly equalized with an impressive scissor kick by Carlos Espi. However, the goal was disallowed following a VAR review, as an offside was called at the start of the play.
In the closing minutes, Real Madrid had the best chance to tie the game, when Nathan brought down Vinícius with a hard tackle inside the box and the referee awarded a penalty in the 90+3rd minute.
Kylian Mbappé stepped up to take the kick, but Valles leaped to his right and made a spectacular save, keeping the score at 1-0 for Betis. On the resulting corner kick, Espí nearly equalized with a powerful header, but the home team’s goalkeeper was once again up to the task, securing the victory for his team.
*photo source: AP
