Toni Kroos' First Red Card In His Career, Real Madrid Held To A Draw With Girona

Toni Kroos (Instagram @toni.kr8s)

JAKARTA - Real Madrid had to share one point when they were held to a 1-1 draw by Girona in Week 12 of the Spanish League at Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid on Sunday night.

Madrid took the lead in the 70th minute through Vinicius Junior's flick but Cristhian Stuani equalized with a penalty in the 80th minute.

Reporting from Antara, Monday, the achievement of one point did not change Madrid's position at the top of the standings with 32 points. El Real is now only one point ahead of Barcelona in second place.

Meanwhile, Girona sits in 16th place with 10 points.

Madrid almost opened the scoring in the 9th minute, but Rodrygo's long-range shot was saved by Girona goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga. The Brazilian forward had another golden opportunity in the 23rd minute but his close-range shot hit the post.

Three minutes later, Federico Valverde posed a threat to the visitors' goal. However, Gazzaniga managed to block a shot from outside the penalty box which was released by the Uruguayan.

Girona almost scored a surprise goal in the 38th minute. Yangel Herrera found free space in the box, but luckily the 24-year-old's shot also hit the bar.

The score 0-0 lasted until halftime.

After the break, Girona got another chance in the 60th minute. Valentin Castellanos on the left saw an opening for a long-range shot, but his shot was headed straight for Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.

Madrid finally managed to break the deadlock in the 70th minute. Dani Carvajal sent a through ball to Valverde who was in the penalty box and then passed it again in front of Girona's goal.

Rodrygo failed to find the ball, but Vinicius Junior managed to find the cross with a flick to find the Gazzaniga goal. The hosts lead 1-0.

The goal made the Madrid players even more excited to double their advantage. Two minutes later, substitute Marco Asensio came close to adding to the lead, but his powerful shot from close range was parried by Gazzaniga.

Left behind by one goal, Girona tried to reply. They finally got a penalty in the 79th minute. David Lopez's header in the box touched Asensio's hand and it was confirmed by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR).

Cristhian Stuani stepped up as the executor and successfully netted the ball into the Madrid goal after his shot into the bottom right corner managed to trick Courtois. The score became a 1-1 draw.

In the remaining time, Madrid tried to chase victory. Rodrygo scored in the 89th minute but was disallowed by VAR after he was found to have kicked the ball that was already in Gazzaniga's possession.

Madrid was forced to play with 10 men after Toni Kroos received a second yellow card in injury time after violating Aleix Garcia who was about to launch a counter-attack. Previously, Kroos got a yellow card in the 55th minute for violating Yan Couto.

For Kroos this is the first red card in his career in professional football.

Losing the number of players made it difficult for Madrid to score a second goal. The 1-1 score lasted until the end.

Lineup:

Real Madrid (4-3-3): Courtois, Mendy (Eder Militao 87'), Alaba, Rudiger, Carvajal, Kroos, Camavinga (Asensio 61'), Modric, Vinicius, Rodrygo, Valverde (Mariano Diaz 86').

Girona (4-1-4-1): Gazzaniga, Martinez, Bueno, David Lopez, Gutierrez (Javi Hernandez 63'), Oriol Romeu, Valery Fernandez (Toni Villa 76'), Aleix Garcia, Yangel Herrera (Reinier 76') , Yan Couto (Riquelme 58'), Castellanos (Stuani 76').