Amid more refereeing controversy and the record-breaking debut of a 15-year-old, Real Madrid on Wednesday defeated RCD Mallorca 2-0 to maintain their perfect record since the COVID-19 suspension and move back to the top of La Liga.
Vinicius Jr and Sergio Ramos scored a goal in each half as Madrid won their fourth in a row to retake the league lead from Barcelona.
Both teams have 68 points, but Madrid are ahead on the head-to-head record.
Photo: AP
Mallorca’s 15-year-old Luka Romero, dubbed the “new Lionel Messi,” became the youngest player to appear in a La Liga match.
The attacking midfielder — born in Mexico to Argentine parents — is a few weeks younger than Francisco “Sanson” Bao Rodriguez was when he set the record by debuting with RC Celta de Vigo in the 1939-1940 season.
Romero entered the match in the 83rd minute, getting his first touch of the ball a few minutes later.
Photo: EFE
Mallorca complained of a foul against Dani Rodriguez in the buildup to Vinicius Jr’s opener in the 19th minute, but the goal stood after a video review.
The visitors claimed that Dani Carvajal made an illegal block on Dani Rodriguez to allow Madrid to regain possession and score. Vinicius Jr found the net with a chip over goalkeeper Manolo Reina after a pass by Luka Modric.
The decision came after Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane spent much of the week defending his players from accusations that they were benefiting from refereeing decisions. Madrid had video review decisions go their way in each of their previous three victories.
“There is a lot of talk about that because we are leading,” Ramos said. “It wasn’t like that when we weren’t up front. They make it look like we have to thank the referees for being the leaders. People shouldn’t be making up movie stories.”
Ramos scored his third goal since the league resumed with a free-kick that curled over the wall in the 56th minute.
It was the 69th league goal for Ramos, who on Sunday overtook Ronald Koeman as the top-scoring defender in league history.
He has a career-high eight league goals this season.
Needing the victory, Zidane picked an offensive lineup that included Vinicius Jr, Karim Benzema, Eden Hazard and Gareth Bale.
Mallorca, still winless since the suspension, stayed just above the relegation zone.
Madrid visit RCD Espanyol on Sunday, after Barcelona travel to Celta tomorrow.
“We have seven finals ahead of us,” Zidane said. “This will only be decided in the very end.”
Elsewhere, Real Sociedad lost 1-0 to Celta to remain winless since the suspension and lose more ground in the fight for the UEFA Champions League places.
It was the third straight loss for Sociedad after opening with a draw when the league resumed.
The result left the Basque Country club in seventh place, six points from fourth-placed Sevilla in the final Champions League spot.
Sociedad were fourth when the league was halted after winning four of their previous five matches.
They were coming off a home loss against Real Madrid.
“We are not happy with our performance after the break,” Sociedad defender Aritz Elustondo said.
Forward Iago Aspas scored Celta’s winner by converting a penalty just before halftime. It was their second consecutive victory after a 6-0 rout of Deportivo Alaves.
CA Osasuna won 1-0 at Alaves to end their three-match losing streak.
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