BARCELONA, Spain (Reuters) -LaLiga leaders Real Madrid were stunned at lowly Espanyol on Saturday after losing 1-0 thanks to a late Carlos Romero strike.
The result means Real, on 49 points, are one point clear of Atletico Madrid, who beat Mallorca 2-0, ahead of next weekend’s Spanish capital derby at Santiago Bernabeu.
Third-placed Barcelona, who play Alaves on Sunday, are on 42 points.
Vinicius Jr appeared to have given Real the lead in the 21st minute after latching onto Kylian Mbappe’s pass. However, the goal was disallowed after the Frenchman had fouled Espanyol’s Pol Lozano in the build-up.
The hosts kept Real at bay in the second half, with Lucas Vazquez, Rodrygo and Jude Bellingham all having efforts brilliantly saved by goalkeeper Joan Garcia.
The visitors were aggrieved when, on a breakaway attack, Romero fouled a running Mbappe from behind, but was only shown a yellow card as the Real players appealed for a VAR review.
“This foul is inexplicable, the decision they made, the referee, the VAR. The most important thing is to take care of the player and protect him. It was a very bad tackle that risked injury, which fortunately did not happen,” said Real coach Carlo Ancelotti.
The Italian manager brought on Luka Modric, Brahim Diaz and Raul Asencio, but they failed to conjure any magic and it was Romero who broke the deadlock in the 85th minute.
The defender latched onto Omar El Hilali’s through-ball and fired home to lift Espanyol to 17th on 23 points, one place above the relegation zone.
“I think this gives us life, we were playing good matches, competing, we had to suffer… Our people give us an edge and at home we have to be strong, it’s going to be very difficult to take points away from us here,” Romero told DAZN.
(Reporting by Angelica Medina in Mexico CityEditing by Christian Radnedge)
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