Levante produced an incredible second-half comeback to claim a 3-3 draw against Real Madrid which saw them finish the match with an outfield player in
Levante produced an incredible second-half comeback to claim a 3-3 draw against Real Madrid which saw them finish the match with an outfield player in goal.
The second half produced no fewer than five goals, with Vinicius Junior bagging a brace before Aitor Fernandez was shown a straight red card to add to the chaos. However, Levante held on for a point.
Carlo Ancelotti’s side travelled to the Ciutat de Valencia on the back of an opening weekend win over Alaves, but were unable to build on that result as they dropped two points.
Gareth Bale gave Real Madrid the lead after just five minutes when he swept home a finish after being set up by Karim Benzema. VAR was used to check for a potential offside, but the goal was allowed to stand.
Real Madrid’s dominance grew further in the first half as Bale, Benzema and Isco all shone, but Levante held on to give themselves a chance of a comeback as the opening 45 minutes came to a close.
Levante emerged for the second half with renewed vigour and took just 30 seconds to find an equaliser through Roger Marti who broke the Real Madrid offside trap to squeeze a finish underneath Thibaut Courtois.
The turnaround was completed when Jose Campana launched a thunderous half-volley into the top corner of Courtois’ net, prompting Ancelotti to make no fewer than three changes to his team all at once.
Vinicius Junior was one of the players introduced off the bench and the Brazilian winger made an instant impact, racing through on goal to slot a low finish past Aitor Fernandez.
There was to be more drama, though, as Levante regained the lead 10 minutes from the end through Rober Pier who was the grateful beneficiary of a bouncing ball from a poorly-defended freekick.
Another equaliser came when Vinicius flipped a finish off the inside of the far post before Fernandez was shown a straight red card for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity with his hands 40 yards off his line.
Real Madrid pressed for a winner, but were unable to create one last opportunity as defender Vezo did enough as an emergency goalkeeper to make sure there would be no more goals.
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