La Liga: Bellingham’s late winner helps Real Madrid edge Getafe

MADRID: Jude Bellingham on Saturday scored a 95th-minute goal to seal a 2-1 victory for Real Madrid over Getafe in the ongoing La Liga season at the new-look Estadio Santiago Bernabeu.

This victory maintained Real Madrid’s undefeated streak in La Liga 2023-24 season as they won all four games and are comfortably sitting at the top of the table.

Bellingham arrived from Borussia Dortmund in the summer following a huge transfer deal and has already surpassed Madrid’s hopes by settling in quickly.

The England international netted his fifth goal in four games to snatch three points from the derby clash, Madrid’s first game without injured forward Vinicius Junior.

Getafe started the game brilliantly with an early goal by former Madrid striker Borja Mayoral in the eleventh minute to send the visitors ahead.

However, Vinicius Junior’s replacement Joselu scored an equalizer early in the second half to help the home side level under a roof at Madrid’s remodeled stadium.

The match remained at that level and it appeared to end as a 1-1 draw, however, Jude Bellingham beats goalkeeper David Soria to the ball and pokes home for the winner a mere 6 minutes before the final whistle.

Bellingham joined a small group of players to have netted in each of their first four Liga matches, including Madrid’s all-time record goal scorer Cristiano Ronaldo.

Earlier in another La Liga fixture, Takefusa Kubo hit a brace to help Real Sociedad earn their first win of the ongoing La Liga season, beating promoted side Granada 5-3 in San Sebastian.

Meanwhile, Real Betis climbed to sixth position in the La Liga points table with a 1-0 win over Rayo Vallecano and Alaves edged Valencia by the same score.

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La Liga: Bellingham strikes late as Real Madrid edge Celta Vigo

VIGO: Former La Liga champions Real Madrid continued their impressive start to the ongoing season as they triumphed 1-0 over Celta Vigo, courtesy of Jude Bellingham’s late winner.

Bellingham arrived from Borussia Dortmund in the summer following a huge transfer deal and has already surpassed Madrid’s hopes by settling in quickly.

The English midfielder, having scored in the two previous La Liga fixtures for Real Madrid, made it three in a row, after heading Joselu’s cross into the nets in the 81st minute to help Los Blancos prevail.

Celta Vigo did well to keep Real Madrid at bay for longer stretches, but in the end, failed to keep a clean sheet as Jude Bellingham sneaked past their defence and scored the winner in the dying moments.

Real Madrid had a perfect opportunity to pull ahead earlier, but Rodrygo’s penalty was saved by Celta keeper Ivan Villar.

Despite scripting a perfect start to their La Liga 2023/23 campaign — winning three consecutive opening matches and sitting at the top of the standings — problems emerged for Carlo Ancelotti’s side as their key striker Vinicius Jr was taken off the field due to an injury.

Vinicius went on a dash down the left side of the field and appeared to tweak the back of his left leg just 13 minutes into the game.

The Brazilian tried to keep going but only managed five more minutes before asking to be substituted.

Los Blancos, however, avoided a major setback as the initial reports suggested a minor thigh problem.

Real Madrid next face Getafe on September 2 while Celta Vigo will take on Almeria on the same day in their next La Liga fixture.

Meanwhile, in another La Liga fixture, Las Palmas and Real Sociedad settled for a goalless stalemate to share a point each.

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Bellingham’s brace helps Real Madrid sink Almeria in La Liga

Real Madrid started the 2023-24 La Liga with back-to-back victories as they registered a thumping win over Almeria 3-1 on Saturday, thanks to Jude Bellingham, who scored two goals in his second La Liga game.

This victory rocketed Real Madrid to the top of the table, while Almeria sunk to the bottom after the loss.

Almeria finished 17th last season and lost to Rayo Vallecano 2-0 at home in their season-opener, however, they started off well against Real Madrid with an early advantage as Sergio Arribas scored off a header in the third minute to give the home side a lead of 1-0.

However, Jude Bellingham pulled his side back with an equalizer in the 19th minute to bring the scores to level.

Both sides fought well to close the first half at a solid 1-1 after a goal by Toni Kroos in the extra time was ruled out by VAR.

The second half started equally well for both times, however, Real Madrid pulled things back in their favour just before the 60th minute, when Jude Bellingham met a Toni Kroos’ shot and successfully scored the header to give his team the lead.

Jude Bellingham further added an assist to his tally when he assisted Vinicius Jr to score a decisive third goal for Real Madrid in the 72nd minute.

Almeria’s Luis Suarez made several attempts to score but to no avail, as Real Madrid kept their lead intact until the final whistle.

This was Jude Bellingham’s second game for Real Madrid, after making his La Liga debut with a goal in Real Madrid’s season opener against Atheltic Bilbao (Athletic Club).

Notably, the 19-year-old English midfielder Bellingham joined Real Madrid this summer from Borussia Dortmund at a base transfer fee of €103 million.

In another game, the aforementioned Atheltic Bilbao defeated Osasuna 2-0 to register their first win of the season. They scored the first goal in the eleventh-minute curtesy Inaki Williams, meanwhile, Gorka Guruzeta further improved the lead to 2-0 in the 20th minute before being reduced to ten men as Oihan Sancet was sent out in the 59th minute.

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Real Madrid script triumphant La Liga start at Athletic Bilbao’s disposal

Real Madrid kicked off their La Liga campaign on a high as they handed Atheltic Bilbao a solid 2-0 defeat, in their opening game on Saturday.

Real Madrid started off the game strongly, as they gained an early advantage with a goal in the 28th minute thanks to Rodrygo, assisted by Dani Carvajal. A mere eight minutes later, Jude Bellingham scored his first goal for the club in his La Liga debut giving them a formidable lead of 2-0.

Notably, the 19-year-old English midfielder Bellingham joined Real Madrid this summer from Borussia Dortmund at a base transfer fee of €103 million.

A clean sheet for Andriy Lunin, who was standing in for the injured goal-keeper Thibaut Courtois kept Athletic Bilbao in their tracks as they failed to score, and Real Madrid’s 2-0 advantage remained intact until the final whistle.

In another La Liga fixture, Raíllo Arenas’s 70th-minute equalizer lifted Real Mallorca to hold Las Palmas for a 1-1 stalemate.

Las Palmas gained an early advantage after Jonathan Viera scored a goal off a penalty in the 29th minute after Copete was given a yellow card.

Both teams made desperate efforts to fire in the tie-breaker but ultimately settled for a draw.

In another La Liga fixture, Real Sociedad were pulled back for a stalemate by Girona, courtesy of Artem Dovbyk’s second-half header.

Real Sociedad got off to a flying start, thanks to an early goal by Takefusa Kubo in the fifth minute.

Sociedad were flying high on their lead and appeared to be in a position to win their La Liga clash. However, Artem Dovbyk pulled them back with a brilliant header in the 72nd minute.

Sociedad made several attempts to gain a late advantage, but all in vain as the game ended in a 1-1 draw.

It is worth mentioning here that defending champions Barcelona will kick off their campaign against Getafe on Sunday.

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