Stoppage time winner from Vazques sends 10-men Real to the top

Real Madrid defeated Deportivo Alaves in a dramatic fashion with a last-gasp winner from right-back Lucas Vazquez to overtake Girona at the top of La Liga on Thursday night.

Los Blancos were the better team all round, but were struggling to find a way through the staunch defense of Deportivo.

It was a nervy contest for Carlo Ancelotti’s men and things got even worse in the 54th minute, when they were reduced to 10-men after Nacho saw straight red for a clumsy tackle on Samuel Orodion.

⚪️🎄 Real Madrid go into Christmas break on top of La Liga thanks to Lucas Vázquez late goal…

…and club will keep discussing options to sign new centre back in January. The decision has not been made yet. 👀 pic.twitter.com/R36IHtEnQB

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— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) December 21, 2023

Nothing much changed, as Madrid was still the more active team. But time was ticking down and they were not able to create a clear goal-scoring opportunity.

It came down to the 2nd minutes of stoppage time, when a fine delivery by Toni Kroos from a corner-kick found the head of Vazquez, who netted it home for the 3 points.

It’s a mightily valuable win for Real Madrid as it sends them top of La Liga with 45 points, ahead of Girona also with 45, but a better head-to-head means the Bernabeu team is first.