Real Madrid survive Mbappé red to beat Alavés in fiery clash | OneFootball

Real Madrid survived the first-half dismissal of Kylian Mbappé to record a vital 1-0 win against Alavés at the Mendizorrotza Stadium, cutting Barcelona's lead at the top of LaLiga back to four points.

Scorers: Camavinga 34'

Real started the stronger as suspected, with Arda Güler almost marking a rare league start with a goal in the opening 10 minutes.

Raul Asencio thought he had given his side the lead in the 20th minute with his first goal for the club. He headed home from a corner, but after a VAR check, it was disallowed for a foul in a crowded box.

Real did get their goal just under 15 minutes later through Eduardo Camavinga. The French midfielder found space on the edge of the box after a neat one-two, and curled the ball into the bottom corner with a brilliant left-footed shot.

Ahead by a goal, the champions would soon be down a man as Mbappé was sent off for the first time in his short Real career for a terribly reckless challenge. It was initially viewed as a yellow but quickly upgraded to red after a brief pitch side review.

Carlo Ancelotti responded by tightening up and looking to protect a slender lead, which they did quite well despite ceding possession to the hosts.

Any chance of Alavés getting a result was near-extinguished when they also went down to 10. Manu Sánchez was given his marching orders for another terrible tackle, this time on Vini Jr.

With the numbers level, Real had little trouble keeping out the strugglers and held out for a vital win that keeps them alive in the title race.

📸 ANDER GILLENEA - AFP or licensors