JUDE BELLINGHAM MADE amends for missing a penalty by snatching 10-man Real Madrid a 2-1 victory at Valencia on Friday to take them top of La Liga after winger Vinicius Junior was sent off.
Huro Duro sent the hosts ahead in the first half of a feisty clash but Luka Modric levelled for Carlo Ancelotti’s side before Bellingham pounced in stoppage time.
Vinicius, who squared off with Valencia supporters who racially abused him at the same stadium in 2022, was dismissed for shoving Los Che goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski in the back of the neck with little over 10 minutes remaining.
Madrid were trailing at the time but Bellingham set up veteran midfielder Modric to level in the 85th minute and spark a superb comeback.
Bellingham broke in to strike in the 96th minute after a Valencia defensive error, sending Madrid two points clear of Atletico Madrid at the top of the table, having played a game more than Diego Simeone’s team.
Los Blancos’ trip to face Valencia was postponed at the end of October after devastating flooding in the region on Spain’s east coast.
Sitting 19th, Valencia appointed Carlos Corberan to replace former coach Ruben Baraja during the winter break, pinching the Spaniard from English Championship club West Bromwich Albion.
The hosts made a strong start with Duro forcing Thibaut Courtois into a smart early save.
At the other end Vinicius’ effort was well blocked by Cesar Tarrega on the slide.
With Madrid’s star-studded attack shackled, Valencia made the breakthrough after 27 minutes.
Dimitri Foulquier cut the ball back for Javi Guerra, whose shot was superbly saved by Courtois but Duro turned the rebound into the empty net.
Vinicius was booked for complaining after a soft penalty appeal was waved away, much to the home fans’ delight.
Mbappe was kept silent in the first half but a burst of pace in behind early in the second earned Madrid a penalty, when Tarrega was adjudged to have brought him down.
Bellingham was tasked with dispatching the spot kick but jumped just before he struck the ball and skidded a low effort against the post.
Replays indicated Valencia goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski was off his line when the penalty was taken, but it was not spotted by the officials.
Mbappe, who missed two penalties for Madrid before Christmas himself, thought he had pulled Los Blancos level when he skipped around Dimitrievski and tucked home, but he was fractionally offside.
Rodrygo headed over when he might have levelled as Madrid turned the screw and was brought off for Brahim Diaz as Ancelotti took action.
Madrid were reduced to 10 men when Vinicius shoved Dimitrievski in the back of the neck after Valencia’s goalkeeper had pushed him, after the Brazilian hit the deck under a fair challenge in the box.
Despite their numerical disadvantage Madrid pulled level when Bellingham nudged the ball through for substitute Modric, 39, to stab home.
The former Borussia Dortmund man snatched the winner when Foulquier’s poor pass put team-mate Hugo Guillamon under pressure, and Bellingham raced on to his attempted back pass to finish with aplomb.
Luis Rioja struck the post with a vicious effort from distance in the 100th minute, inches away from snatching his side a draw.
Valencia, who have not won in La Liga since November, are four points from safety.
©AFP
I trust Joe. He is at the centre of everything. He is also the best and really knows best.
One of the beauties of having Joe Schmidt as head coach – the first world class head coach, with the exception of Warren Gatland, that Ireland has ever had – is that he has created a system in which every player in the squad can slot into seamlessly. Everybody knows their role and what is expected. Unlike previous Irish head coaches, such as embittered ones currently employed by RTE, Joe Schmidt can see the bigger picture in the World Cup: he doesn’t panic and send out old reliables, who are not fully fit, in the first match. Joe Schmidt’s dispassionate and beautifully professional approach is what has seen Ireland enter the Rugby World Cup as the Number One ranked team in the world, an incredible achievement which shows Joe Schmidt’s ability, unique among Irish head coaches, of getting Ireland ready to peak at the right time.
Joe Schmidt’s Ireland’s confident, back-to-back defeats of Wales in the RWC warm-ups were not only important for proving which team had the greater strength in depth, but were timely in the event of a potential meeting with Wales in the World Cup semi-finals. Those results proved, yet again, lest any of the doubters and begrudgers had any doubts, Joe Schmidt’s permanent class. Schmidt and his team have given Irish supporters a sweet gift in the run-in to the RWC: the great pleasure of clicking on the World Rugby website and seeing Ireland ranked on top of the world, even before we go on to lift the Webb Ellis trophy!
@J. Reid:
We are not number 1 in the world :: NZ ::: S A :: England ::Ireland/Wales
But it will be nice to look back at the numbers in 5 years’ time to see we were No. 1 in the world in September 2019 (the number will still be there and the memory will have slipped )
@J. Reid: Stan
@Martin Quinn: Why do you constantly use colons in your posts? It’s really odd.
Our pack is superior, but the backrow battle will be immense, need to nullify Barclay & Watson.
Fingers crossed our lineout functions properly.
Looking forward to seeing Conway & Larmour, hope their eagerness to impress doesn’t lead to any brain farts though. Conway is fearless contesting the high ball, but sometimes mistimes & takes the jumper out in the air. We can’t afford to be down to 14 men.
Seems pretty silly to have Carty come off the bench with McGrath, when Marmion, Carty and Aki have a telepathy between them and would be playing at the same time. Anyhow, hope McGrath has a stormer and makes me eat my words with regards him being picked ahead of Marms.
@Joe Vlogs: Well he couldn’t come off the bench with Marmion as he’s not in the squad. If Joe sees McGrath as the better option for whatever reason, be it he thinks he’s a better player or Marmion hasn’t been fully fit, it would have made little sense to bring a scrum half to the world cup that he didn’t fancy just because he’s bringing his club mate as what will most likely be 3rd choice fly half as the tournament progresses.
@Joe Vlogs: or maybe McGrath has the same with sexton Ross Byrne , henshaw, larmour Kearney etc. it’s Ireland playing not a bunch of mates who play down the road
I trust Joe. He is at the centre of everything and, with his intimate knowledge of everything rugby and his excellant judgement, seldom if ever lets us down.
Looks like he throwing the first match
@Colm: how do you figure that
Conway should be playing full back.
front row will put pressure on Scots.
overall pack will dominate Scotland.
must stop Hogg on gain line.
Hopefully Stockdale won’t jump out of the line
@john fleming: I disagree, he’s great in the air but runs the ball back which is great but too frequently gets turned over…unlike Kearney and to a lesser extent unlike Larmour. Ball presentation is key in that position with little room for error. He had a great game against Wales but did see him turnover ball twice against Wales
Realistically I think we all expected this starting 15. Some might have put Conway at 15 and Larmour on the wing, I would have too, but it’s obvious that Joe sees Larmour as a better option there than Conway. Because of injuries the backs pretty much picked themselves. He’s also gone with the tried and tested in the backrow. In the absence of Toner I think it’s fair to say that POM will start all the big games when fit for his lineout prowess. Leaving Stander and Conan to fight it out for number 8. Only real surprise might be Scannel on the bench instead of Cronin but Scannel is a good player and is my bet for the starting hooker come the 6 nations. Looking at both teams and not permitting for weird weather I think Ireland will have too much for Scotland. Ireland by 10
I probably would of preferred Conway at fullback but to be fair, larmour has been our back up fullback to Kearney and it would of been a slap in the face to larmour if he didn’t start him there. It’s a very potent back 3 but I just have a small fear of that 3 defensively but coybig!!!!
Wales/England would look to exploit recent aerial form and set piece worries, but don’t think the Scots like playing tactics, they wont switch up their formula and will just hope Russell doesn’t have a howler. Cracker of a game hopefully.
With Kearney fully fit I would expect a 7-12 point win but without him it will be a nailbiter. Can see Laidlaw and Russell sending deep box kicks and garryowens for Hogg, Maitland and Seymour to test Larmour all day.