Despite having three goals ruled out for offside, Real Madrid still beat Las Palmas 4-1 in round 20 to take the top spot in La Liga.
Real were held to a 1-1 draw by Las Palmas in the first phase of La Liga, and looked set for another shock at the Bernabeu on January 19.
At 28 seconds, Sandro Ramirez, a player who played for Barca from 2014-2016, crossed from the right wing for Fabio Silva to tap the ball into the net of Thibaut Courtois. This was Real's earliest goal conceded in all competitions, since Michu scored in the 15th second of the match against Rayo Vallecano in La Liga in September 2011.
But this was just the "catalyst" for Real to explode in the remaining time. In the 17th minute, Rodrygo was fouled by Sandro Ramirez in the penalty area, resulting in a penalty. On the 11m mark, Kylian Mbappe shot low to the right corner, contrary to goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen's prediction, equalizing the score.
In the 33rd minute, the French striker shot from outside the box, which Cillessen could not catch. The ball bounced just in time for Lucas Vazquez to pass to Brahim Diaz, who leaned over and shot into an empty net.
A minute later, Rodrygo broke free down the left flank and crossed for Mbappe to tap into the top corner, making it 3-1. In a similar attack in the 42nd minute, the 2018 World Cup champion thought he had his first hat-trick for Real. But VAR intervened, determining that Mbappe had been offside earlier, and disallowed the goal.
Las Palmas' troubles were compounded when substitute Benito Ramirez was shown a straight red card for stamping on Vasquez. The referee initially showed a yellow card but changed his mind after going to the sidelines to review the footage.
In the remaining time, Real put the ball in the visitors' net twice more, with Jude Bellingham's rebound into an empty net and Federico Valverde's superb goal. But both goals were denied for offside.
In the two early matches, Barca were held to a 1-1 draw by Getafe and Atletico lost 0-1 at Leganes. Thanks to that, Real rose to the top of La Liga with 46 points, two points ahead of Atletico and seven points ahead of Barca.
On January 22, Carlo Ancelotti and his team will continue to play at home against RB Leipzig in the seventh round of the Champions League. Real is currently ranked 20th with nine points, the position that must play in the play-off to compete for a ticket to the round of 16.
TH (according to VnExpress)