Real Madrid vs Villarreal. Spanish La Liga.
Santiago BernabeuAttendance64,582.
Wednesday 21 September 2016 21:21, UK
Real Madrid failed in their bid to win a record 17th straight La Liga game as they were held 1-1 by Villarreal at the Bernabeu.
Villarreal took the lead in first-half stoppage time through Bruno Soriano's 'Panenka' penalty, deftly chipped down the middle of the goal after Sergio Ramos' handball.
Ramos made up for his mistake in the first half, pulling Real level with a header three minutes after the break, but despite pressure throughout the second half on the visiting goal, it stayed level.
The result means Real stay top of La Liga after five games, while both sides remain unbeaten.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale returned for Zinedine Zidane's side after missing the 2-0 win over Espanyol on Saturday, but the first half didn't go according to plan.
Despite having the majority of possession and eight first-half corners, only one half-chance fell to the hosts, with Karim Benzema's header being tipped away by Sergio Asenjo after Bale's header across the face of goal.
Villarreal, who went into the game unbeaten this season, forced a fine save out of Kiko Casilla, who tipped over from former Real man Denis Cheryshev's right-footed effort from the edge of the area.
While Real were down to 10 men due to Marcelo's foot injury, Villarreal took advantage and went ahead.
After Raphael Varane's sloppy play allowed the visitors to pile forward, Manu Trigueros' right-footed effort hit the hands of Ramos for a stonewall penalty. Bruno stepped up and dinked the ball down the middle with a Panenka-style finish, the last kick off the first half.
Real came out faster in the second half, and were brought level by captain Ramos just three minutes after the restart.
Connecting with James Rodriguez's deep corner at the far post, Ramos' towering header just beat Asenjo, who got a hand to the ball.
Benzema's glancing header from James' deft cross went just wide of the left-hand post moments later, before Dani Carvajal's ball across the face of goal was just a yard ahead of Ronaldo.
Real continued to push in the latter stages, Asenjo saving at the second attempt from Kroos' long-range effort before Jose Angel blocked Lucas Vazquez's close-range effort, but Villarreal held out for a well-earned draw.
