Real Madrid avoided a slip-up on Saturday in La Liga, beating Valencia 2-1 on a late goal from Marcelo.
Entering the day level on points with Barcelona atop the standings, Real looked headed for a win with Cristiano Ronaldo's first-half goal. But a sick free kick goal from Dani Parejo with just under 10 minutes to go made it seem like the hosts would only get a point, but the Brazilian defender produced some late magic to lift his team to a vital win.
It was this goal from Ronaldo in the first half that put Real up 1-0:
GOOOOOOOOOOOAL! @Cristiano's drought is over, and how about that for a cross! @RealMadrid lead 1-0! #LaLiga pic.twitter.com/3hBsv88yF1
— beIN SPORTS USA (@beINSPORTSUSA) April 29, 2017
Riding that goal the entire match without creating much, Real conceded in the 82nd minute with this stunning strike from Parejo:
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL! STUNNING FREE-KICK FROM @DaniParejo!
— beIN SPORTS USA (@beINSPORTSUSA) April 29, 2017
WOWWWWWWWW. #LaLiga pic.twitter.com/8EvAg8Vi2d
But just four minutes later, Marcelo cut inside down the left and fired home for the win:
Goooooooooooooooooool de @MarceloM12, gooooooool del @realmadrid, que de inmediato responde y retoma la ventaja #beINLaLiga pic.twitter.com/2rNcjFTRNQ
— beIN SPORTS Español (@ESbeINSPORTS) April 29, 2017
And that is a massive result. A draw combined with a Barca win on Saturday would have seen Real down two points in the standings, with their campaign taking a big hit, but it comes up late as it does so often and keeps its hopes of winning the league alive and well.
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