Real Madrid beat Valencia 3-0 at the Mestalla in La Liga on Saturday, to move level on points with leaders Barcelona, at least until the Catalans face Atletico Madrid on Sunday. Federico Valverde, Arda Guler and Kylian Mbappe scored in a one-sided contest.
Valencia played the final minutes with 10 men after Jose Luis Gaya was sent off for hauling down Mbappe as he ran through on goal. Pepelu and Mbappe were also booked after a tangle, as the home side’s night ended in frustration.
Real dominated from the first whistle. Valencia, set up in a five-man defence, sat deep and stayed compact.
The breakthrough came in the 28th minute, shortly after Pablo Maffeo escaped with a yellow card for bringing down Mbappe. Madrid claimed the challenge was worthy of red. Mbappe’s free kick hit the wall, and the rebound fell to Valverde.
Valverde drilled a low right-footed shot into the bottom left corner from the edge of the box. The goal released the pressure on the visitors, who spent most of the next spell camped in Valencia’s half.
Guler made it two in the 36th minute. Jude Bellingham raced down the left and tried to square the ball across goal, but it struck a defender’s shin and dropped for Guler, who volleyed into an open net. Real went in at half-time two ahead.
Valencia had threatened only briefly before then. Guido Rodriguez thought he had equalised with a finish inside the six-yard box in the 20th minute, but the flag went up for offside. Aaron Mayol had also forced a save from Thibaut Courtois.
The hosts began the second half brighter, with Luis Rioja replacing Justin de Haas at the break. Real sat back and absorbed pressure, and Courtois had to dive low to his left to keep out Arnaut Groeneveld’s effort from the left.
Bellingham came close to a third, wriggling past two defenders before trying to dink the ball over Stole Dimitrievski. The keeper stuck out his right boot to stop it, and Mbappe’s overhead kick from the rebound was straight at him.
Mbappe sealed it in the 75th minute. Guler turned on the right and slipped a pass through, and the Frenchman ran at full speed at Dimitrievski before dragging him out and finishing calmly past him. It was his 13th goal of the season.
Gaya was sent off four minutes later when he brought Mbappe down as Real broke on the left. Mbappe and Pepelu then collected yellow cards after an incident in which the Real forward raised an elbow towards his marker.
Jose Mourinho used his bench late, with Guler, Yan Diomande and Bernardo Silva replaced by Brahim Diaz, Eduardo Camavinga and Endrick. Thiago Pitarch and Carlos Espi then came on for Bellingham and Mbappe as Real saw out stoppage time.
The result extends Madrid’s winning run to eight games in all competitions. It also lifts them level with Barcelona on points, with the league leaders to face second-placed Atletico on Sunday.
For Valencia, the defeat is a further setback. They stay near the foot of the table after taking only nine points from 11 games, and have now failed to reach 10 points at this stage of the season for a third year running.
Before kick-off, both sides paid tribute to Tenerife striker Jesus de Miguel, who died on November 3. Players wore shirts in his memory, and play was briefly halted in the ninth minute so fans and players could applaud.