MADRID: Real Madrid took advantage of a red card for a Getafe player who stayed less than a minute on the field to win 1-0 with an 80th-minute goal by Kylian Mbappe on Sunday.
The hard-fought victory moved Madrid back on top of the Spanish league, two points ahead of Barcelona, who beat last-placed Girona 2-1 with a stoppage-time goal by Ronald Araujo on Saturday.
Mbappe’s league-leading 10th goal of the season came shortly after host Getafe went a man down because of a straight red card shown to Allan Nyom about 40 seconds after he came off the bench.
Nyom fouled Real Madrid forward Vinícius Junior away from the ball as Madrid started to build a breakaway in the 77th.
Madrid, who had been struggling to create significant scoring chances, took advantage of the sending off and Mbappe scored with a shot from inside the area after a nice through ball by Arda Güler.
Mbappe has scored in 13 of the 14 games he played this season for club and country. He has scored at least once in 11 straight matches.
“We’re very pleased with how Kylian is doing,” Madrid coach Xabi Alonso said. “He’s been decisive with his goals and his involvement. Goals give you points, but we need everyone because there’s a lot going on in the background.”
Getafe went another man down four minutes later when Alex Sancris was shown a second yellow card for another foul on Vinícius.
Despite playing with nine men, Getafe nearly equalized in stoppage time, with Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois charging from the net to make a difficult close-range save to a shot by Abu Kamara inside the area.
“That missed chance by Kamara was a pity,” Getafe coach José Bordalas said. “Nyom’s red card made the difference. For me that’s not a red card, at most a
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