Mbappe and the referee enough for Real's win over Getafe

When it comes to refereeing in Spain, Florentino Perez and Real Madrid are the champions of pressuring the men in black. They even devote entire programs on Real Madrid TV before their games, pointing out at their previous mistakes against the Spanish giant. But when a certain referee makes a huge mistake which helps Perez‘s team, there is no complaining and that is exactly what happened tonight. Getafe‘s Allan Nyom, who came on as a sub in the 76th minute, got a red card les a minute after he came in. It was a clear foul on Vinicius, but on Real‘s half and since the Brazilian was at least 40 meters away from Getafe goal (and there were other Real players in front of him), a yellow card was the most logical case. But referee Jose Luis Munuera Montero gave a straight red to Nyom and VAR didn‘t intervene. In the next attack, Mbappe scored the only goal of the match and allowed Real their eight consecutive win over the club from Madrid‘s suburb.

Getafe players the ugliest, most defensive football in Spain and coach Jose Bordalas's men are famous for their ‘dark arts‘ so a game against them is probably the toughest game of the season for any coach, even Xabi Alonso. Real faced ultra-defensive team who knew how to defend their goal and it looked like the match could be played for 200 minutes and Real still wouldn‘t score until the referee made a controversial decision and gave Nyom the red card. Real are now heading for next week‘s duel with Barcelona as the leader of La Liga.

Only three good opportunities happened in the first half. Kylian Mbappe got a great ball from Rodrygo, went into the penalty area and took a shot but Soria was there to save it. Real had the ball, had the initiative, Mbappe had two more shots but it was not dangerous. In the dying minutes of the first half Alaba and Mastantuono argued over a free kick and the Austrian eventually took the ball but his good shot was punched away by Soria and Valverde was too wide to shot it precisely. As for the home team, they had two unsuccessful penalty appeals (referee was right) and one fantastic left foot volley from Alex Sancris which already went past Courtois but inches from the bar. That was actually the best chance for both teams in the first half.

Alaba made way at halftime for Asensio while Vinicius came in for Mastantuono pretty soon. Finally a clear chance opened up for Real 15 minutes from time when a free kick at the edge of the penalty area was rewarded, but Mbappe‘s shot went just near the bar. Alonso introduced Guler and strengthen the attacking ability even further but Real was still helpless until Nyom was sent off. Guler found Mbappe in the next attack and the Frenchman scored for the win and relaxed mode ahead of El Clasico. Near the end, refree gave a red card to another Getafe player, but even with a 10 men the home team had a chance to equalize in injury time, Luckily for Real and Perez, Courtois was there to save it.

LA LIGA - MATCHDAY 9

Friday

Oviedo - Espanyol 0-2 (0-0)

/Garcia 70, Milla 82/

Saturday

Sevilla - Mallorca 1-3 (1-0)

/Vargas 16 - Muriqi 67, Joseph 72, 77/

Barcelona - Girona 2-1 (1-1)

/Pedri 13, Araujo 90+3 - Witsel 20/

Villarreal - Betis 2-2 (1-0)

/Buchanan 44, Moleiro 64 - Antony 66, 90+4/

Atletico Madrid - Osasuna 1-0 (0-0)

/Almada 69/

Sunday

Elche - Athletic Bilbao 0-0

Celta - Sociedad 1-1(1-0)

/Duran 20 - Soler 89/

Levante - Rayo Vallecano 0-3 (0-2)

/De Frutos 12, 25, Garcia 65/

Getafe - Real Madrid 0-1 (0-0)

/Mbappe 80/

Monday

22.00: (2.30) Alaves (3.10) Valencia (3.40)

***odds are subject to change***