Real Madrid Held to Draw by Las Palmas, Girona Crush Osasuna
Real Madrid’s unbeaten start to the La Liga season was put to the test on Thursday as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Las Palmas. The Spanish champions found themselves trailing early on after Alberto Moleiro’s fifth-minute goal, but Vinicius Junior’s second-half penalty rescued a point for Carlo Ancelotti’s side.
Madrid’s struggles continued in the first half, as they failed to create clear-cut chances and were punished by Las Palmas’ early strike. Moleiro’s goal came from a well-worked move, with the midfielder finding space in the box and firing a low shot past Thibaut Courtois.
The visitors improved after the break and were awarded a penalty in the 69th minute when Alex Suarez was adjudged to have handled the ball in the area. Vinicius Junior stepped up and converted the spot-kick to level the scores.
Despite their dominance in possession, Madrid were unable to find a winning goal and were forced to settle for a draw. The result leaves them fourth in the standings, four points behind archrivals Barcelona.
In the day’s other match, Girona put Osasuna to the sword in a crushing 4-0 victory. Osasuna were completely outplayed and could only muster a single shot, which was not on target. Bryan Gil opened the scoring for Girona in the 34th minute, before Viktor Tsygankov and Abel Ruiz hit goals in a quick-fire three-minute period around 53 minutes to put the game out of reach. Uruguay’s Cristhian Stuani wrapped up the dominant win with a fourth goal at the death.