Real Madrid on Sunday slipped to their “worst defeat of the season,” coach Carlo Ancelotti said, following up a shock UEFA Champions League reverse with their first La Liga loss of the season, going down 2-1 at RCD Espanyol.
Real, who lost to Sheriff on Tuesday last week, blew a chance to pull ahead of Atletico Madrid, who beat crisis-hit Barcelona 2-0 on Saturday to draw level with their city rivals on 17 points.
Real Sociedad are also on 17 points after they too missed the chance to go top when they were held to a 1-1 draw at Getafe on Sunday.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“There is not much to say,” crestfallen Ancelotti said after a defeat that left Real without a win in three games after they were held to a goalless draw by Villarreal in their previous league match.
“We did not manage to keep our calm, to put in place what we had planned,” he said. “The team was not well set-up, with or without the ball. You have to be honest. It’s the worst game of our season.”
Espanyol took the lead on 17 minutes at the RCDE Stadium when Raul de Tomas found the net. Aleix Vidal scored a sparkling second goal after nutmegging Nacho and smashing the ball past Real goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois 15 minutes into the second half.
Karim Benzema had the ball in the net early in the second half, but the goal was ruled out as Luka Jovic was offside.
Just as Espanyol appeared to be about to extend their advantage, Benzema pulled a goal back on 71 minutes, firing into the bottom corner after the France international collected a pass from Jovic for his ninth league goal in eight games.
Espanyol had won just once in seven games, but they hung on grimly in five minutes of stoppage-time to take all three points.
“We now need to use the international break to think about why this team’s attitude has changed in the space of a week, but this defeat is no accident. We didn’t play well,” Ancelotti said.
Victory for Sociedad would have moved them to the top of the table, but they had to settle for a point after Mikel Oyarzabal produced a 68th-minute equalizer to cancel out Sandra Ramirez’s opener for Getafe five minutes before halftime.
The point was Getafe’s first of the season.
Arnaut Danjuma scored a brace as Villarreal defeated Real Betis Balompie 2-0.
A lone strike from Dario Benedetto gave Elche a 1-0 win over RC Celta de Vigo, while Granada stunned fourth-placed Sevilla 1-0 in the late game.
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