Vinicius Junior scored twice to inspire Real Madrid to a 3-2 victory over Atletico Madrid in a pulsating derby at the Bernabeu, finally breaking his La Liga scoring duck against the city rivals at the 13th attempt.
It was a milestone night on the touchline too, with Diego Simeone taking charge of his 50th Madrid derby for Atletico, while Alvaro Arbeloa was managing Real in this fixture for the very first time.
Real made a bright start, with Dani Carvajal testing Juan Musso and Federico Valverde rattling the base of the post inside the opening 10 minutes. Atletico also had their moments, with Marcos Llorente drawing a sharp save from Andriy Lunin, who was starting only his fourth game of the season in place of the injured Thibaut Courtois.
Despite Real’s early dominance, it was Atletico who broke the deadlock before half-time. Matteo Ruggeri’s low cross found Giuliano Simeone, whose flick set up Ademola Lookman to side-foot home his fifth goal since arriving at the club last month.
Real turned the game around within 10 minutes of the restart. Vini Jr converted from the penalty spot after David Hancko tripped Brahim Diaz, then Federico Valverde pounced on a Jose Maria Gimenez error to make it 2-1, his sixth goal in five matches.
Atletico hit back through substitute Nahuel Molina, who scored for the second successive league game with a stunning long-range strike into the top corner. But their leveller lasted only five minutes before Vini Jr curled a brilliant effort into the far corner to restore Real’s lead.
Jude Bellingham came off the bench to make his first appearance since February 1st, though the game soon took another twist as Valverde was sent off for a foul on Alex Baena. Atletico pressed for an equaliser in the closing stages, with Julian Alvarez hitting the post and Alexander Sorloth heading straight at the keeper, but Real held on.
The result keeps Real Madrid in the title hunt, just four points behind league leaders Barcelona, while Atletico remain fourth.
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