Vinicius Secures Real Madrid Win With “Offside” Goal

Real Madrid beat Real Valladolid in a tight encounter last night thanks to a seemingly offside goal from substitute, Vinicius Jr.

Zinedine Zidane once again surprised everyone with his team selection, following the narrow comeback win against Real Betis last weekend. He opted to start out-of-favour striker, Luka Jovic, for the second game in a row alongside Karim Benzema, while Isco played at the tip of a 4–4–2 diamond formation, in front of the trio of Luka Modric, Casemiro and Fede Valverde. Alvaro Odriozola was also handed his first start in almost a year at right back, while Marcelo returned to the opposite flank.

A largely cagey affair, the game was defined more by goalkeeper’s Thibaut Cortois and Roberto Jiminez, with the former’s incredible save against Shon Weissman proving yet again that he is the spine of Zidane’s team, which has come to be defined more by its defence than the attack.

Jovic’s second half header into the bottom corner that was saved by Roberto appeared to be a clear sign that the game was destined for a draw, with neither side truly able to carve out clear chances, with the exception of Jovic’s first half miss from an opportunity carved out of a tireless Valverde run.

Meanwhile, Weissman’s bottom corner finish that was scooped out by Courtois ‘s right hand to prevent what could have been an incredible upset.

However, as soon as Jovic was taken off of the pitch, alongside Odriozola and Isco, to be replaced by Vinicius Jr., Marco Asensio and Dani Carvajal, the goal finally came.

Pouncing on a loose ball, Vinicius secured possession for Valverde to play Benzema through the defence. However, as Benzema cut back for Vincius, the defender was in an offside position and put the ball in the back of the net. However, with new offside rules showing that a player can be in an offside position if the ball comes backwards off of a defender (which it did), Vinicius’ “offside” goal was given.

Courtois made another series of saves to maintain Madrid’s narrow lead before Modric was almost gifted a goal by Roberto, with the Croatian veteran hitting the upright after picking up on a loose pass from the former West Ham goalkeeper.

Moments before the final whistle, Madrid pulled off a well-orchestrated counter-attack, which left Vinicius with a clear path to goal. However, the Brazilian prodigy failed to convert the chance and chipped the ball meekly into Roberto ‘s chest.

Zidane will be satisfied with all three points and will be happy with the clean sheet, but the French coach will also know that his team needs to start scoring regularly. Perhaps starting Vinicius more could add the potency that his attack so desperately needs in the absence of the injured Eden Hazard.

Originally published at https://essentialmillennial.com on October 1, 2020.