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Ramos helps Madrid to 3-1 win at Barcelona

Published:Sunday | October 25, 2020 | 12:20 AM
Real Madrid’s Luka Modric celebrates scoring his side’s third goal during the Spanish La Liga match between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona, Spain, yesterday. Real Madrid won 3-1.
AP
Real Madrid’s Luka Modric celebrates scoring his side’s third goal during the Spanish La Liga match between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona, Spain, yesterday. Real Madrid won 3-1.

BARCELONA, Spain (AP):

Sergio Ramos scored the winning goal in Real Madrid’s 3-1 win at Barcelona after a video review awarded him a penalty in the Spanish league yesterday.

Ramos restored Madrid’s advantage in the 63rd from the spot after a brush with Barcelona’s Clement Lenglet in the area. After consulting the video screen on the touch line, referee Juan Martínez ruled that Lenglet had impeded Ramos from contesting a high ball by grabbing his shirt.

Federico Valverde opened the scoring for Madrid in the fifth minute when he fired in a pass from Karim Benzema.

Barcelona’s Ansu Fati levelled three minutes later from an attack cued by Lionel Messi.

Barcelona were taking the match to Madrid’s area when Ramos was sent to the spot by the VAR review.

Substitute Luka Modric capped the win for Madrid in the 90th with Barcelona searching for an equaliser.

Madrid lead the league with 13 points. Barcelona have 7 with a game in hand.

Gone was the listless Madrid that had been embarrassed in home losses against Cádiz and Shakhtar Donetsk over the previous week.

Ramos had been knocked out of the loss to Cádiz at half-time with a knee knock that also sidelined him for the Shakhtar defeat in the Champions League.

With him back barking orders in the centre of their defence, Madrid were the aggressive, compact side that had won the league from Barcelona last season.

KEY IN ATTACK

Ramos also proved key in attack when he used his wiles to grapple with Lenglet and then complain vehemently after he collapsed to the turf following the defender’s tug.

“Both Lenglet and I take our defending to the limit, and in this case it was very clear,” Ramos said. “He grabbed me as I was jumping. The VAR is there to help and I think it was a penalty. We then went looking for a third goal after they had suffered that blow to their morale instead of just sitting back.”

Barcelona’s US defender Sergiño Dest, making just his third start for his new club, had his doubts.

“I don’t know (if it was a penalty),” said Dest. “But for me, it is like play on.”

It was the first ‘clásico’ match played without fans since the Spanish league closed all stadiums to the public after the start of the coronavirus pandemic.