Real Madrid did not let up in the fight for the league title and picked up three more points in Pamplona. The hard-earned victory was sealed with a goal from Valverde in the 78th minute, after an assist from Vini Jr, and another from Asensio in stoppage time from an Álvaro Rodríguez pass. Fourth consecutive win for the Whites, who have now gone two games unbeaten. The game was hard fought and not really open besides the sides taking 11 shots each. Real Madrid had more ball possession but it was never easy finding openings in the opponent’s defensive line and things got even more difficult when the opposition tried to strike in counter attacks.
The first half didn't produce many close chances, but in the first quarter both teams could’ve scored one goal each. The clearest chance fell to Ancelotti's side after ten minutes; Moncayola made an error in the back-pass to the keeper and Vini Jr. found himself one-on-one with Sergio Herrera. The goalkeeper was up to the challenge however, helped by the fact that the Brazilian was at a tight angle. Then it was Valverde with a shot that went close to the right side and Ante Budimir getting in the way of teammate Lucas Torro when the Osasuna striker would have been better leaving the ball. Real Madrid was in possession but Osasuna really grew into the game over the rest of the first half. In the 43rd minute, Osasuna's high-intensity pressing had an effect and Budimir's shot after Osasuna's recovery in the opposing area narrowly missed the target.
The second half was a whole different ball game. The pace ratcheted up a notch and the chances quickly began to flow. Teams started to open more in the search of the goal. The first fell to Rodrygo on the edge of the box and his beautiful curling effort whistled just the wrong side of the hosts’ post with 47 minutes on the clock. Osasuna hit back when Budimir’s back-heeled effort was kept out by the diving Courtois. The complexion of the game had changed entirely now and four minutes later, Vini Jr. cut inside Moncayola so go one-on-one with Sergio Herrera, but the goalkeeper didn’t fall for the winger’s dummy and took the ball comfortably into his gloves.
As the minutes ticked by, Osasuna caused problems with a couple of strong long-range efforts. First, Moi Gómez’s strike crashed back off the upright with 62 minutes gone, before Moncayola, narrowly failed to catch Courtois out. Up the other end, Vini Jr. enjoyed the best chance of the night so far with 74’ on the clock, coming up against Sergio Herrera once more but being unable to get the better of the shot-stopper. Four minutes later and it was the 0-1 breakthrough as Madridistas won the ball in midfield and broke quickly, with Vinicius coming from the left side and squaring for the onrushing Fede Valverde to score
It looked as though the world champions were going to have a tough final few minutes as they looked to hold onto their lead at El Sadar, but they needn’t have worried. In the 89th minute, Vini Jr. saw his goal chalked off for off-side following a VAR review, before Asensio did make sure of the points in injury time when he turned home following fine work to win the ball back by academy graduate Álvaro Rodríguez who also provided the assist for the disallowed goal. Ancelotti's side now turn their thoughts to the visit to Anfield where they face Liverpool in the Champions League on Tuesday.
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