Vinicius scores twice as Real beat Atletico in thriller

Vinicius Jr scored twice as Real Madrid won a thrilling derby against city rivals Atletico to restore the gap on La Liga leaders Barcelona to four points.

Real, who trailed 1-0 at the break, fought back in the second half to turn the contest around, but were forced to hang on in the closing stages after Federico Valverde was shown a straight red card for a foul on Alex Baena, a player he has history with.

Ademola Lookman had opened the scoring for Atletico against the run of play with a close-range finish after a wonderful backheel from Giuliano Simeone, son of manager Diego.

Vinicius levelled from the penalty spot after Brahim Diaz was upended by David Hancko, and the hosts went in front when Valverde latched on to a defensive mistake and placed the ball past visiting goalkeeper Juan Musso.

At that stage, Alvaro Arbeloa’s side looked like they were going from strength to strength.

However, Nahuel Molina’s stunning 25-yard strike, which arrowed into the top corner, briefly silenced the Bernabeu as Atletico restored parity.

But Vinicius curled in the winner six minutes later after collecting substitute Trent Alexander-Arnold’s pass – his 10th goal in his past 11 matches.

Alexander-Arnold, who was omitted from the England squad named this week, impressed after replacing Real captain Dani Carvajal in the 64th minute.

Jude Bellingham, who is part of Thomas Tuchel’s plans for the friendlies against Japan and Uruguay, also made his return after the break having missed 10 matches with a hamstring injury.

While Real were also able to send Kylian Mbappe on from a star-studded substitutes’ bench, the dismissal of Valverde changed the complexion of the contest late on.

Argentina forward Julian Alvarez was unfortunate to see his effort cannon against the post as Atletico pushed for a second equaliser.

And Real were able to hold on to record their first victory against their neighbours in the Spanish top flight since September 2022.

Barcelona had moved seven points clear of Real Madrid with a 1-0 win over Rayo Vallecano earlier on Sunday.

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