Levante 1-2 Real Madrid: Double VAR delight as Benzema & Bale sink penalties

Gareth Bale came off the bench to seal a 2-1 win for Real Madrid over Levante, with a little help from VAR.

2018/2019 La Liga

1-2

Match Report

Real Madrid returned to winning ways in LaLiga on Sunday with a 2-1 defeat of Levante, as they made the most of two key interventions from VAR at Ciutat de Valencia.

Roger Marti looked to have earned a point after cancelling out Karim Benzema's first-half penalty, but a second spot-kick, also awarded after help from the video assistant, allowed Gareth Bale to secure the victory before each side had a player sent off.

Santiago Solari named a strong side despite two games against Barcelona to come in the next week, evidently eager for a response after their shock defeat to Girona last time out.

Player Ratings

Match Events

23' OFF THE POST! Marti almost scores

HUGE CHANCE! The resulting corner is swung in from the left before being flicked on towards the far post by Pier. Marti is able to peel away at the back but can only hit the inside of the post from a few yards out. Glorious opportunity.

43'Penalty Goal! Levante 0-1 Real Madrid (Benzema)

GOAL! Benzema confidently fires the penalty down the middle of the goal and beyond Fernandez who dived to his right. 1-0.

44' POST! Marti almost scores

OFF THE POST! Levante look to respond immediately after going behind. Rochina receives the ball from Campana before sending it in behind for Marti to chase. The Spaniard, one-on-one with Courtois, fires the ball against the near post from the centre of the box. Almost an instant response.

60'GOAL! Levante 1-1 Real Madrid (Marti)

GOAL! Levante are level! Morales does brilliantly to get away down the left-hand side before pulling the ball back towards the penalty spot. Marti did brilliantly to beat Varane to the delivery and his effort sails beyond Courtois and into the bottom right corner of the net. 1-1.

78'Penalty Goal! Levante 1-2 Real Madrid (Bale)

GOAL! Bale restores Madrid’s lead! The substitute calmly places the spot-kick into the bottom right corner. 2-1.

86'RED CARD! Nacho sent off

RED CARD! Nacho is shown a second yellow card and he has been sent off! Dwamena span away from the Spanish defender on the right side of the box and he opted to pull him to the ground. The referee had no choice but to send him off there.

86'ANOTHER RED CARD! Rochina sent off

ANOTHER RED CARD! Incredible! Rochina, who was substituted earlier in the game, has been shown a second yellow card whilst in the dugout for protesting the decisions of the referee.

Line-ups

Levante XI: Aitor Fernández, A.Luna, Rubén Rochina, J.Campaña, Martí, R.Vezo, Morales, Moses Simon, Cabaco, Bardhi, Rober

Subs: P.López, Doukouré, Oier Olazábal, N. Vukčević, C.Rodríguez, Jason, R. Dwamena

Real Madrid XI: L. Modrić, Benzema, T. Kroos, T. Courtois, Casemiro, Nacho, Daniel Carvajal, R. Varane, Lucas Vázquez, Reguilón, Vinícius Júnior

Subs: Bale, Marcelo, K. Navas, J.Vallejo, Marco Asensio, Ceballos, Valverde