Dani Carvajal scored a goal in the ninth minute of stoppage time to lead Real Madrid to a hard-fought 3-2 victory over Almería in a La Liga match that featured contentious officiating decisions on Sunday. Almería, sitting at the bottom of the table without a win after 21 matches, initially took the lead with two goals from Largie Ramazani and Edgar Gonzalez in the first half.
However, Real Madrid reduced the deficit in the 56th minute with a penalty converted by Jude Bellingham, awarded after a lengthy review by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) due to a handball. Almería's Sergio Arribas believed he had scored the third goal, but it was disallowed after a VAR check confirmed a foul committed by Almería midfielder Dion Lopy on Bellingham during the build-up.
Five minutes later, the VAR intervened again when the referee disallowed a goal from Vinícius Júnior, thinking the ball had touched his arm, but reversed his decision after concluding the player had struck the ball with his shoulder.
In the ninth minute of stoppage time, Bellingham delivered a cross to Carvajal, who found the net from close range. With this victory, Real Madrid climbed to the top of the league table with 51 points, two ahead of Girona, who will host Sevilla later today.
