Should Real Madrid have been awarded penalty in Rayo Vallecano draw after 'controversial' challenge on Vinicius Junior?
Updated 15/12/2024 at 14:25 GMT
Vinicius Junior was denied a penalty when he was kicked by Abdul Mumin in the late stages of Real Madrid's 3-3 draw with Rayo Vallecano, but should they have been awarded the spot-kick? Carlo Ancelotti said "The penalty seemed very clear to me", while the club labelled the decision as "controversial" as Madrid failed to leapfrog leaders Barcelona in La Liga.
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Real Madrid were held to a thrilling draw against Rayo Vallecano on Saturday, but one "controversial" refereeing decision has overshadowed the significant result at the top end of the table.
Carlo Ancleotti’s side once again missed the chance to overtake Barcelona and climb to the top of La Liga following their patchy start to the campaign, with the 3-3 tie only enough to close the gap by a point.
However, the Madrid contingency began the short trip back home from Estadio de Vallecas feeling as though they were unjustly denied the chance to propel themselves clear of their long-standing Spanish rivals.
They believed Vinicius Junior was "clearly" fouled in the penalty box, which should have resulted in referee Juan Martinez Munuera pointing to the spot.
What happened?
With the game finely poised after goals from Federico Valverde, Jude Bellingham and Rodrygo, Los Blancos headed into the late stages of the encounter in search of what would have been a crucial winner.
There were 15 minutes on the clock when Vinicius broke into the box and looked to poke the ball past Abdul Mumin, who appeared to kick Vinicius and catch the Brazilian’s lower leg when attempting to clear the ball.
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Vinicius Junior challenged in a La Liga match against Rayo Vallecano.
Image credit: Getty Images
The 24-year-old hit the deck and despite the appeals from those in grey shirts, Munuera was not interested.
He refused Vinicius the spot-kick, and the Brazilian talked himself into a booking and a one-match suspension over a previous foul, meaning he will miss next weekend’s tie against Sevilla.
One of the points of confusion was that some replays seemed to show that Vinicius' team-mate Jude Bellingham also might have made contact with the Brazilian.
What was said in the aftermath?
Real Madrid manager Ancelotti was crystal clear as to what he felt in his summation of the incident: "The penalty seemed very clear to me".
The club labelled the decision "controversial" in the match report on the website, which read: "The game was now back and forth and in the 75th minute came the most controversial play of the match.
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 "Vini Jr. was clearly brought down inside the area by Mumin, but MartĂnez Munuera did not award a penalty, neither was there any warning from Gonzalez Fuertes, the VAR referee."
And even Rayo boss Inigo Perez feels the referee could have awarded the spot-kick.
"I don’t like to lie and I think it was Mumin who kicked him," Perez admitted.
"He made it clear that he always tries to be honest and said that, while the referee could have blown the whistle for a penalty, he could also have chosen not to.Â
"I always try to be honest and when I saw it, I said that he can whistle it but also not. These are delicate plays that with the VAR you have to be extremely careful."
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