Real Madrid strike late to see off 9-man Getafe in edgy encounter | OneFootball

Getafe 0-1 Real Madrid

Real Madrid have returned to the top of the La Liga standings after a narrow victory over Getafe in the Madrid derby at the Coliseum.

Xabi Alonso made the bold decision to start the likes of Arda Guler and Vinicius Junior on the bench, as Jude Bellingham and Rodrygo Goes were afforded the chance to impress from the start. Both were involved early on, with the latter setting up Kylian Mbappe for a big chance, but his effort was saved by David Soria.

In the first half, it was the hosts that came closest to scoring as Alex Sancris’ volleyed effort from the edge of the box went agonisingly wide of Thibaut Courtois’ left post. Nevertheless, neither side were able to find the breakthrough, which meant that the contest was deadlocked at the interval.

Image via Denis Doyle/Getty Images

Real Madrid upped the ante in the second half, and the introductions of Guler and Vinicius swung things in their direction. The latter drew a red card for Getafe defender Allan Nyom seconds after he was substituted on for an off the ball incident, and minutes later, Mbappe struck after being played in by the Türkiye international.

Soon after, Getafe had another player dismissed as Alex saw a second yellow card from referee Jose Luis Martinez Munuera for a late challenge on Vinicius. Despite this, the hosts almost scored in the dying stages of stoppage time, but Courtois came up big to deny substitute Abu Kamara.

Real Madrid go into El Clasico ahead of Barcelona in the table

That result means that Real Madrid are back to the summit of the La Liga standings, two points ahead of bitter rivals Barcelona. The two teams face off at the Santiago Bernabeu next weekend in the first El Clasico of the season, for which Los Blancos will need to up their performance levels.