Real Madrid 2-0 Villarreal: Valverde and Vinicius stunners down high-flying visitors

Real Madrid went level on points with rivals Barcelona at the LaLiga summit following their 2-0 triumph over high-flying Villarreal on Saturday.

The hosts opened the scoring in stunning fashion when Luka Modric's short corner was dummied by Jude Bellingham for Federico Valverde, with the Uruguayan taking aim from distance and finding the bottom corner with the aid of a deflection.

But Villarreal, who had won back-to-back league games heading into the encounter at the Bernabeu, responded almost immediately when Nicolas Pepe's header rattled the crossbar before Thierno Barry nodded over.

Los Blancos had further chances to increase their lead, but Antonio Rudiger sent an effort over the bar before Bellingham's long-range effort sailed wide of the post.

But the victory was sealed 17 minutes from time with another sensational strike, this time Vinicius Junior tried his luck from long-range and curled a superb strike beyond the grasp of Diego Conde after being found by Valverde.

The result, however, was overshadowed by a nasty injury in second-half stoppage time to Dani Carvajal, with the Spaniard leaving the pitch on a stretcher and in tears after a collision with Yeremy Pino.

2 - @realmadriden scored two goals against Villarreal tonight, both from outside the box. That's as many in this way as in the 39 previous goals scored by Madridistas in @LaLigaEN (Tchouaméni vs Mallorca in April and Fede Valverde from a direct free-kick in August). Resource. pic.twitter.com/xMoEAurw9D

— OptaJose (@OptaJose) October 5, 2024

Data Debrief: Wonder goals save Los Blancos

Madrid's two strikes against Villarreal both came from outside the box, as many as they had scored in their previous 39 goals in LaLiga.

But Carlo Ancelotti's side were far from their very best at the Bernabeu. They managed to muster an expected goals (xG) total of just 0.47 compared to Villarreal's 0.62, with only two of Los Blancos' 11 shots on target.

Valverde, however, impressed for Madrid, creating the joint-most chances alongside Modric (three), while also completing more accurate passes (77) than any other player on the pitch.