Madrid, March 7 – Real Madrid remained in contention for the La Liga title on Friday night, thanks to a lucky win against Celta Vigo, securing a 2-1 victory away from home.
The game seemed destined for a 1-1 draw, a result that would have given FC Barcelona the opportunity to extend their lead at the top of La Liga. However, Federico Valverde's shot in the 94th minute, which deflected off Marcos Alonso outside the Celta penalty area, left home goalkeeper Ionut Radu helpless, according to Xinhua.
Real Madrid, without Kylian Mbappe, Eder Militao, Jude Bellingham, and David Alaba, took the lead in the 11th minute with a brilliant goal from Aurelien Tchouameni, who curled a spectacular shot from distance.
The lead didn't last long. In the 25th minute, Borja Iglesias leveled the score for Celta with his first goal against Real Madrid. Williot Swedberg found space behind Trent Alexander-Arnold, turned the full-back, and passed the ball back to Iglesias, who swept it past goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.
Tchouameni was Real Madrid's best player in the first half as he controlled the game and put his team on the front foot, but Celta were playing deep and denying Brahim Diaz and Vinicius Jr. space.
Courtois made a flying save to prevent Swedberg from giving the hosts the lead just before halftime.
Real Madrid thought they had a penalty late in the game when Ferran Jutgla handled the ball in the Celta box, but the incident was ruled out for an earlier foul on Ilaix Moriba.
Iago Aspas got the ball past Courtois in the closing minutes, but the ball hit the post before luck smiled on Madrid again, with Valverde's deflected winner.
