Vinícius Júnior had a goal disallowed and was then red carded in a dramatic, off-the-bench cameo during Real Madrid‘s LaLiga game with Villarreal on Saturday.
The Brazil international was left out of the starting XI by José Mourinho — replaced by Yan Diomande — after the coach admitted that the forward has been unable to find his best form this season.
Vinícius was introduced on 52 minutes with the game tied at 0-0, with Diomande opening the scoring at the Bernabéu 10 minutes later.
Vinícius then looked to have made a decisive contribution when he converted Jude Bellingham‘s pass to make it 2-0, with Mourinho sprinting onto the pitch to celebrate with his players.
However a VAR check showed that in the build-up to the goal, Vinícius had pulled Villarreal’s Nathan Saliba‘s hair as he raced forwards.
The goal was overturned, and referee Isidro Díaz de Mera showed Vinícius a straight red card, sparking an angry reaction from the Madrid bench.
The decision left 10-man Madrid nervously defending a narrow, 1-0 lead in the game’s closing stages.
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