Yan Diomandé finally opened his Real Madrid account on Saturday, yet by full time hardly anyone at the Bernabéu was talking about him. The 1-0 win over Villarreal will instead be remembered for Vinícius Júnior grabbing an opponent by the hair and being sent straight off.
For an hour the match was flat and nervy. Kylian Mbappé wasted a couple of decent openings and was also denied by goalkeeper Peter Gulácsi. The breakthrough came in the 62nd minute, when Federico Valverde slid a pass through to Diomandé, who turned and drilled a low shot inside the far post. An offside flag went up, but a VAR check overturned it. It was a first strike in white for the teenager, signed from RB Leipzig over the summer for a fee that could reach £120m.
Ten minutes later the evening tipped into chaos. Vinícius, on as a substitute for Trent Alexander-Arnold, appeared to double the lead after a surging break by Jude Bellingham, and José Mourinho raced down the touchline to celebrate. The referee was called to the pitchside screen, which showed the Brazilian yanking Nathan Saliba’s hair near halfway. The effort was wiped off and the forward was dismissed for violent conduct.
Down to ten, Madrid leaned on Thibaut Courtois, who made several sharp saves to keep Villarreal out. Mourinho, booked himself during a heated finale, then failed to appear in front of the media afterwards, a first during his spell in charge, reportedly fearing that anything he said could earn him a ban.
The win keeps Real six points behind leaders Barcelona, who swept past Getafe 3-0 a few hours before kick-off, after eight rounds. The Clásico in Barcelona follows on 25 October, and on this evidence Madrid have work to do, quite possibly without a suspended Vinícius.
