Kylian Mbappe was sent off for the first time in his Real Madrid career but his team-mates held on to defeat Alaves and move back to within four points of La Liga leaders Barcelona.
Mbappe was initially shown a yellow card for catching Antonio Blanco high on the shin with a late challenge, but that was upgraded to red after the video assistant referee (VAR) invited referee Cesar Soto Grado to watch the incident again on the pitchside monitor.
The incident occurred four minutes after Eduardo Camavinga gave Real Madrid the lead with a curling left-footed strike from just outside the penalty area.
Thibaut Courtois produced six saves to thwart Alaves, who were themselves reduced to 10 men when Manu Sanchez caught Vinicius Jr high on the leg in the 70th minute.
Vinicius and Jude Bellingham started on the bench, perhaps with a view to the 3-0 deficit they will look to overturn against Arsenal in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti introduced his two stars as his side looked to kill off the hosts, but they mustered just one shot on target in the second half compared to Alaves’ five.
Victory keeps Los Blancos in touch with Barcelona, who beat strugglers Leganes 1-0 on Saturday.
Mbappe will miss Real’s home fixture against Athletic Bilbao next Sunday through suspension.
Real Madrid will travel to Barcelona on 11 May in a match that could determine the title race.
[BBC]