Leaga leaders Real Madrid were stunned when Lowly Espanyol took a late 1-0 victory thanks to the strike by Carlos Romero.
Vinicius Junior thought he had given Madrid a head start of the 21st minutes, held the pass of Kylian Mbappe before he curled a beautiful strike in the back of the net. However, the goal was not allowed after the Frenchman Pol Lozano had contaminated in the structure.
The visitors raised the pressure in the second half when Jude Bellingham forced a smart stop from Joan Garcia before Mbappe hit the outside of the post with the rebound.
Lucas Vazquez and Mbappe also saw the efforts saved in the second half, while Rodrygo hit the foot of the nearby pole after a beautiful gambler to the right.
After held Madrid in Bay Briljant, Espanyol found a late winner, with Romero the cross of Omar El Hilali met on the volley to shoot past a helpless Thibaut Courtois in the 85th minute.
Madrid remains top after he has not found a late winner, but is now only one point free from Atletico Madrid after their victory earlier on Saturday. Espanyol moved from the relegation zone and to the 17th with the three points.
@Rcdespanyol_en 1-0 @Realmadriden85 'Carlos Romero. @Emirates pic.twitter.com/Z116UVZ1G4
– Real Madrid CF (@realmadriden) February 1, 2025
Data debrief: no way through
Prior to this competition, Madrid 108 of their previous 177 LALLEGA meetings had won Espanyol (D33 L36), a record number of victories by a team about another in the history of the competition.
Despite their constant pressure in the RCDE stadium, they simply couldn't find a way. They had 21 shots worth only 1.78 expected goals (XG), in which Garcia made seven saves in a striking display for the hosts.
It is only the second time in their last 35 league meetings with Espanyol that Madrid did not score, so that 90 goals were received in that run, on average 2.6 per match.
Los Blancos also had 76% possessing Espanyol, their highest figure in a LaLiga road competition since at least the 2005-06 season, but without joy.
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