Real Madrid clinches a contentious 3-2 comeback win, leaving Almería with a sense of being unfairly treated.

Real Madrid’s season has been marked by a peculiar trend of playing subpar football yet managing to secure victories, and their most recent narrow escape, a 3-2 home win against the league’s bottom-placed team, Almería, epitomized this pattern.

At halftime, Real found themselves trailing 2-0, with Largie Ramazani scoring within 40 seconds and Edgar González delivering a spectacular volley. The second half, however, saw Real benefitting from three crucial decisions via the Video Assistant Referee (VAR).

Firstly, referee Francisco Hernández Maeso awarded Real a penalty after VAR review, citing a handball offense by Almería’s Kaiky Fernandes Melo, even though Joselu from Los Blancos seemed to have climbed over him to reach the ball. Jude Bellingham converted the penalty, narrowing Almería’s lead.

Then, in another VAR intervention, Hernández Maeso disallowed a seemingly legitimate Almería goal when Bellingham went down holding his face in apparent pain. Despite minimal contact as midfielder Dion Lopy raised his hand to fend off Bellingham, the decision to cancel the goal and issue Lopy a yellow card appeared harsh.

Shortly after, Real Madrid found an equalizer when VAR replays indicated the ball bouncing into the net off Vinícius Jr.’s right arm’s upper part. Despite the controversial circumstances, the goal stood.

Almería’s despair reached its peak in the ninth minute of stoppage time when Dani Carvajal scored the winning goal, completing Real Madrid’s comeback.

All three major VAR incidents left Almería, anchored at the bottom of La Liga without a win all season, feeling aggrieved at the full-time result. Midfielder Gonzalo Melero expressed frustration, claiming the match was unfairly influenced by decisions, including the penalty, Vinícius’ goal with his hand, and the disallowed goal.

Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti, maintaining composure, insisted that the correct decisions were made, countering Almería’s complaints. Despite acknowledging Almería’s commendable performance, Ancelotti stood firm in his belief that the three decisions were justified, even expressing readiness to face accusations of winning due to VAR.