Bellingham's late strike seals 10-man Real Madrid's comeback win over Valencia

Real Madrid reclaimed the top spot in LaLiga with a dramatic 2-1 victory over Valencia on 5 January, as Jude Bellingham scored a stoppage-time winner despite his earlier penalty miss and the dismissal of Vinicius Junior.

Carlo Ancelotti's side now lead the table with 43 points from 19 matches, two points ahead of Atletico Madrid, who have a game in hand, and five ahead of Barcelona. Valencia, on the other hand, remain in 19th place, four points adrift of safety.

The hosts, under new manager Carlos Corberan, who replaced Ruben Baraja during the winter break, took the lead in the 27th minute. After a promising start, Huro Duro capitalised on a rebound following Thibaut Courtois' save from Javi Guerra's effort.

Real Madrid struggled to break Valencia's disciplined defence in the first half, with Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo seeing their efforts thwarted.

Madrid were awarded a penalty early in the second half after a burst of pace from Kylian Mbappe led to a foul by Cesar Tarrega. However, Bellingham struck his effort against the post, with replays showing Valencia goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski off his line—though the infringement went unnoticed by officials.

Vinicius Junior's frustrations boiled over in the 79th minute when he shoved Dimitrievski in the back of the neck after the goalkeeper had pushed him. The Brazilian, who had earlier been booked for dissent, was shown a straight red card, leaving Madrid to play the final minutes with 10 men.

Despite being a man down, Madrid staged an impressive comeback. In the 85th minute, Bellingham set up veteran Luka Modric, who slotted home to level the score. The 39-year-old's composure sparked hope for Los Blancos as the match entered stoppage time.

Bellingham then redeemed himself with a stunning winner in the 96th minute. A poor pass from Dimitri Foulquier put Hugo Guillamon under pressure, and the English midfielder capitalised on the mistake, finishing clinically to seal the victory.

Valencia came agonisingly close to equalising in the 100th minute when Luis Rioja struck the post with a powerful effort, but it was not enough to deny Madrid all three points.