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Leader Real Madrid held to draw by late Celta strike

Richard Martin (Reuters)
Madrid
Mon, February 17, 2020

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Leader Real Madrid held to draw by late Celta strike Real Madrid's Brazilian forward Vinicius Junior (C) challenges Celta Vigo's Spanish goalkeeper Ruben Blanco Veiga (down) during the Spanish league football match between Real Madrid CF and RC Celta de Vigo at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid on Sunday. PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU / AFP (AFP/Pierre-Philippe Marcou)

R

eal Madrid's La Liga title bid took a dent after Zinedine Zidane's leader was held to a 2-2 draw at home to Celta Vigo on Sunday, denied all three points by a late strike from Santi Mina.

Mina latched on to a classy through ball from former Barcelona midfielder Denis Suarez and produced a clinical low finish to equalize in the 85th minute, trimming Real's lead over Barcelona to one point.

Celta took an early lead through Russian striker Fedor Smolov and Real struggled to respond, leading to the home fans booing its players off the pitch when the halftime whistle was blown.

But the league leader came out stronger after the break and Toni Kroos leveled in the 52nd minute, shortly after Real captain Sergio Ramos had a goal ruled out for offside.

Ramos then scored from the penalty spot to put Zidane's side in front in the 65th minute after Eden Hazard, making his first outing in almost three months after recovering from an ankle injury, was tripped by Celta keeper Ruben Blanco.

"Dropping two points at home hurts me a lot," Zidane told reporters.

"Celta is a good team that doesn't deserve to be near the bottom of the league but it's painful to lose the two points after we made such a big effort."

Real forward Gareth Bale meanwhile avoided a possible red card for a wild tackle on Celta's Rafinha, escaping with only a booking.

The draw ended a five-game winning streak in the league for the leaders and left them on 53 points after 24 games, one ahead of second-placed Barcelona who beats Getafe 2-1 at home on Saturday.

Celta, who had lost on its last seven league visits to the Santiago Bernabeu, climbed out of the relegation zone into 17th place in the standings.

"I'm happy with my performance, not so happy with the draw but I think we can do better in our next game," said Hazard.

"When you are winning 2-1 you should win the game. They are good players but they came here just to defend, they had only two chances and scored two goals."

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