December 09, (THEWILL) – Real Madrid were held to a 1-1 draw by Real Betis on Saturday, in a thrilling La Liga contest. The result sees Los Blancos move one point clear at the top of the table, although second placed Girona and third placed Barcelona have the chance to overtake when they face each other on Sunday.
The home side Betis came out strong, carving out a couple of early goalscoring opportunities through Marc Roca and Ayoze Perez. However, it was the visitors that opened the scoring seven minutes into the second half courtesy of a Jude Bellingham strike, his 16th goal for Real Madrid since arriving from Borussia Dortmund over the summer.
Bellingham’s goal was an exquisite team move, with the Englishman exchanging a slick one-two pass with Brahim Diaz before sliding the ball into the net. Diaz later had a chance himself to double Real’s advantage, but shot wide from a tight angle.
The home crowd was silenced only briefly though, as Betis’ Aitor Ruibal smashed in a thunderous equaliser minutes later. Both sides battled for the winner as the encounter opened up, but some stellar goalkeeping and near misses, including an Isco header cannoning off the woodwork in injury time, saw the teams finish deadlocked at 1-1 apiece.
The draw, played in front of a vocal crowd at Estadio Benito Villamarin, will be seen as an opportunity lost by Real Madrid. The league leaders were targeting three points to build some breathing room heading into the winter break. Instead, the title race remains wide open. Real Betis, currently sitting 7th, will also feel they could have claimed all three points and continue their push towards a European spot.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
