Jude Bellingham was instrumental in Real Madrid’s 3-2 victory over Almeria, with Dani Carvajal scoring the final goal. After a disappointing first half, Jude Bellingham and Vinicius Junior put the hosts back on track, before the England midfielder headed back across goal in injury time for Carvajal to score a stunning winner.

Real Madrid salvaged a 3-2 victory over La Liga bottom dwellers Almeria thanks to a Jude Bellingham penalty and a Dani Carvajal winner in a game marred by widespread VAR criticism.
Almeria are still waiting for their first La Liga win of the season, but they appeared to break that streak when they went 2-0 up in a surprising first half in which the visitors looked the more clinical side against a sluggish Real Madrid.

However, three marginal VAR rulings went Los Blancos’ way in the space of twelve minutes, flipping the game on its head, and Almeria manager Gaizka Gaitano was red carded late after arguing with the referee about his team’s poor fortune.

Almeria provided a huge assist to Real Madrid last week by keeping La Liga rivals Girona to a goalless draw, but appeared prepared to repay the favour with Largie Ramazani’s opening just 38 seconds in, followed by Edgar Gonzalez’s wonder goal before halftime.

However, Carvajal’s header propels Los Blancos back to the top of the table, with Girona facing Sevilla tonight and looking to close the two-point gap, albeit Real Madrid will still have a game in hand after this weekend.

They’re about to enter a busy period in February, as Real Madrid welcome Girona and Atletico Madrid – who knocked them out of the Copa del Rey this week – to the Bernabeu in La Liga before returning to Champions League action, so Ancelotti will be pleased with the win despite the effort required.

But Gaitano will be disappointed as his team threw everything into a brilliant game plan against the team who humiliated Barcelona in the Supercopa de Espana final just a week before, only to come away with nothing and remain winless, 10 points behind Sevilla and safety.

They weren’t simply plucky underdogs; Almeria exposed Real Madrid anytime they broke forward, with blunders by Nacho and Bellingham accounting for all three goals, the latest of which was disallowed after the Brit scored his penalty.

The front three of Ramazani, Marezi, and Arribas kept Los Blancos on their heels with lightning-fast interaction, while visiting captain Lucas Robertone fought through injury for much of the game, and it was his perfect ball that set up the first, which stunned the Bernabeu into quiet.

The best of the bunch, however, was centre-back Edgar’s beautiful volley from outside the box, which soared straight into the top corner and gave Kepa Arrizabalaga, Real Madrid’s newly restored goalkeeper, no chance.

While the hosts came out fighting in the second half, with Ancelotti making substitutions, they continued to threaten and deserved to win.