Surprise at La Cartuja.. Real Betis defeats Real Madrid and denies them La Liga lead
Real Betis achieved a valuable and thrilling victory over Real Madrid by one goal to nil, in the match that brought them together at the La Cartuja stadium in the fourth round of the Spanish League.
Betis raised their tally to 9 points to temporarily occupy third place, while Real Madrid's tally remained at 9 points in temporary second place, with the royal team losing the opportunity to continue its perfect start.
Real Madrid started the match strongly, looking for an early goal, and Vinícius Júnior almost opened the scoring from a cross by Arda Güler, but he strangely sent the ball to the outer net.
As time went by, Real Betis began to get into the rhythm of the game, and managed to pose a threat to Thibaut Courtois's goal on more than one occasion. On the other hand, Betis's goalkeeper saved a dangerous header from Jude Bellingham, before Kylian Mbappé bizarrely missed a clear chance from a pass by Vinícius.
In the second half, Real Madrid continued their attempts to score the go-ahead goal, but without much danger to the hosts' goal. Mbappé shot a powerful ball from outside the penalty area that went wide, before returning in the 67th minute and missing another chance when the Betis goalkeeper saved his shot from inside the area.
While the match was heading towards a draw, Real Betis managed to snatch the lead in the 81st minute, after one of their players rose to a corner kick and headed it, Courtois saved the ball, before Troy Barrott followed up and scored into the net.
Real Madrid tried to come back quickly, and Mbappé almost equalized in the 85th minute, but his shot hit the crossbar and refused to grant the royal team a comeback goal.
In the 86th minute, Real Madrid thought they had scored the equalizer when Carlos Espe brilliantly converted Vinícius's cross into the net with an overhead kick, but the referee disallowed the goal due to offside by Espe at the start of the attack.
The excitement continued until the final minutes, as Courtois shone in the 90+2nd minute and saved a dangerous shot, before Vinícius was awarded a penalty in the 90+3rd minute.
Mbappé took the penalty kick, but the Betis goalkeeper continued his brilliance and brilliantly saved the kick, thus the hosts sealed the match in their favor by one goal to nil, in one of the most prominent surprises of the fourth round.