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Real Madrid were the victors over Levante in a controversial fashion on Sunday night. Santiago Solari continued his brilliant run with the club with yet another victory. The Los Blancos did not have much possession until Levante handled the ball inside the penalty box.
The referee overturned the decision and awarded a penalty to Real Madrid. Karim Benzema stepped forward to take the spot-kick and converted it with such ease. The game was wide open and Levante took full charge of the situation.
Roger Marti made full use of Antonio Luna's excellent delivery to find the back of the net and equalize the score in the second half. The lead lasted for just 18 minutes after Casemiro felt minimal contact which was enough to warrant a penalty. Substitute Gareth Bale was the scorer this time.
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With this victory, the Los Blancos are third in the league table and continue to breathe down the neck of Atletico Madrid, whilst Levante are seven points clear of the relegation place.
In this article, we shall look at three reasons why Real Madrid were able to win the game against a resilient Levante side.
#1 VAR to Real Madrid's rescue once again
Home crowd felt that they were undone by a couple of decisions which went against Levante's favor. During the first half, Carvajal brings down the Levante striker, but the referee decided to wave on. When Jose Morales was pleaded the officiate to look at the Video Assistant Referee(VAR), the referee decided against the player's instruction.
Even pundits including Don Hutchison were tweeting about the awful decision to award a penalty to Real Madrid in the second half. When the ball was in play, Cheick Doukoure trying to clear the ball made very minute contact on Casemiro who made full advantage of it.
The Brazilian International dived and made a bigger fuss out of that incident to win a penalty. When Levante players protested the referee to look at the Video Assistant Referee (VAR), the fourth official decided to stick with referee's decision to award an undeserving penalty which was converted by Gareth Bale.
There were many question marks raised after the Champions League clash against Ajax. The same has now repeated against Levante in the domestic competition.
#2 Levante's wingers caused problems to Real Madrid's defense
Levante opted to play three at the back which enabled Moses Simon and Antonio Luna to run through either of the flanks. During the first half, Simon ran past Carvajal, but he was not able to set up his strike partner Roger which resulted in a goal kick.
Antonio Luna's fantastic work came into light when found Roger Marti inside the penalty box during the 60th minute. Levante's number 9 took full advantage of it and slotted the ball past Thibaut Courtois to equalize the score.
Whenever Real Madrid did have the ball, the hosts were relentless with their pressing plan and nearly got the best out of Santiago Solari's men who were lucky to come away with three points.
Apart from the goal, Levante had a couple of opportunities to go ahead in the game, but they struck the post on both times which frustrated the home crowd.
#3 Vinicius Jr lacks decision making
As Levante opted to play three at the back, Real Madrid winger Vinicius Junior and Lucas Vazquez had plenty of room through the flanks. But, they did not make full use of it, especially, Vinicius Junior, who lacks decision making in the final third.
During the first half, he dribbled past three defenders through the left flank but handed the ball to the goalkeeper while trying to find some Real Madrid player in the middle. There was no real conviction with the ball when he tried to play in. This was one just one instance, but he had plenty of other chances to cause havoc to the opponent's defense.
Just moments after the second half whistle, the Brazilian had an excellent opportunity to increase his goal tally, but the shot was saved by the shot-stopper Aitor Fernandez when there was a one-v-one situation.
The teenager will be disappointed with the outcome in the final third and will be looking to improve on that aspect as he has age on his side.
