Photo: Collected
Vinicius Junior had been revelling in celebration after scoring, yet in that very match against Villarreal he had to leave the pitch after being shown a red card. For pulling the hair of opposing defender Nathan Saliba, the referee disallowed his goal and showed him a straight red card as well. After the match the Brazilian forward apologised to his Real Madrid teammates and the supporters for the incident. And coach Jose Mourinho, angered by the referee’s decision, skipped the post-match press conference.
In this La Liga match on Saturday, Real Madrid beat Villarreal 1-0. After the game Vinicius wrote on the social media platform Instagram, ‘The joy remains. But I am sorry to my team and the supporters.’
Vinicius is not at his best form this season. For that reason Mourinho did not include him in the starting eleven against Villarreal, with Yan Diomande getting the chance in his place. The Real coach sent Vinicius on in the 52nd minute, in the second half.
Shortly afterwards Real went ahead through Diomande’s goal. Then, when Vinicius scored from a Jude Bellingham pass, it seemed the lead had been extended. He burst into celebration with his teammates; Mourinho too came running from the dugout to share the joy with the players.
But the VAR review showed a different picture. While moving forward in the attack that led to the goal, Vinicius had pulled the hair of Villarreal defender Nathan Saliba. Referee Isidro Diaz de Mera disallowed the goal for this reason and then sent the Brazilian forward off the pitch with a straight red card.
The Real Madrid dugout could not accept this decision by the referee. Mourinho did not turn up at the scheduled press conference after the match either. Midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni raised questions about the refereeing in an interview given to Real Madrid’s television channel. He said, ‘I do not understand what is happening with the referees, or what is happening with the red cards.’
The referee’s report says Vinicius shouted in protest at the red card decision and moved towards the referee in an aggressive manner. Teammates later intervened and stopped him.
Villarreal defender Juan Foyth, however, sees the incident somewhat differently. In his view, Vinicius did not do it with the intention of hurting anyone, but the decision to show a red card over the hair-pulling incident was correct.
The disciplinary committee of the Spanish football federation may announce its decision on Vinicius’s punishment this week. Real will play a league match against Sevilla on 18 October, and then on 25 October the side will face arch-rivals Barcelona. So the length of Vinicius’s ban could have an important impact on the upcoming matches.
With Vinicius shown a red card, Real had to hold their defence with 10 men in the closing stages of the match. In the end, though, Mourinho’s side left the pitch with a 1-0 win.
After this win Real Madrid are in third place in the La Liga points table. They are six points behind leaders Barcelona, while their gap with second-placed Atletico Madrid is one point.
