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Vinicius Jr sent off for hair pull as Real Madrid beat Villarreal

Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior was shown a straight red card for violent conduct after pulling the hair of Villarreal's Nathan Saliba, as Madrid held on to win 1-0.

  • Vinicius Junior was sent off in the 73rd minute after a VAR review of the build-up to his disallowed goal
  • The referee's match report said Vinicius protested aggressively and had to be held back by teammates
  • Manager Jose Mourinho skipped the post-match press conference, reportedly over fears of suspension

Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior was sent off for violent conduct after pulling the hair of a Villarreal player in their La Liga clash on Saturday.

The winger had celebrated scoring a second goal when referee Isidro Diaz de Mera was called by the video assistant to review the build-up, eventually chalking the goal off after seeing Vinicius Jr pull the hair of Villarreal's Nathan Saliba as they sprinted down the field.

The referee then dismissed Vinicius Jr with a straight red card, leaving Madrid with 10 men from the 73rd minute, and prompting ugly scenes as the forward screamed at Diaz de Mera while teammates tried to calm him down.

Manager Jose Mourinho, who had run to join the celebrations, was left furious by the decision and skipped the customary post-match press conference, reportedly because he was worried anything he said about the incident would result in him being suspended. He had already been given a yellow card and had to be held back by staff on several occasions after decisions went against his team.

Vinicius Jr later wrote on Instagram: "Sorry to my team and my fans," but did not apologise to Saliba. The Brazilian had replaced Trent Alexander-Arnold as a second-half substitute shortly before Yan Diamonde put Madrid ahead, but spent only 20 minutes on the pitch before his sending off.

"I don't think he meant to hurt anyone but it is a red card," Villarreal defender Juan Foyth said. Madrid clung on to win 1-0.

Diaz de Mera wrote in his match report that after being shown the red card Vinicius Jr "protested my decision, raising his voice, toward where I was standing in an aggressive manner, and being held back by teammates."

Why this matters: Vinicius Jr could miss El Clasico against league leaders Barcelona if the disciplinary commission decides to add to his mandatory one-game suspension, with Madrid visiting Barcelona in two games' time.

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