VALENCIA, Dec 16 — Real Madrid showed fighting spirit to snatch a 1-1 draw at Valencia in La Liga yesterday thanks to a strike from Karim Benzema which came about after his goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois joined the efforts to find an equaliser.
The draw allowed second-placed Real to go level on 35 points with leaders Barcelona three days before they visit their archrivals in the rescheduled ‘Clasico’ on Wednesday.
Spanish forward Carlos Soler had put Valencia ahead in the 78th minute of a tense and tight game, meeting a cut-back from Daniel Wass and lashing into the net from close range.
Real substitute Luka Jovic looked to have levelled in stoppage time but the effort was ruled out for offside.
The visitors, however, refused to cave in and Courtois came up to contest a corner in a last-ditch effort to salvage a point and preserve his side’s long unbeaten run in all competitions, which has been stretched to 11 games.
The Belgium keeper used his physical attributes to head the cross from Toni Kroos towards goal and forced opposite number Jaume Domenech to parry his effort away and Benzema was on hand to steer the loose ball home in the fifth minute of added time.
The goal prevented Valencia from climbing up to sixth in the standings and they were instead left in eighth on 27 points.
“We came here looking for the three points but we were punished by Valencia’s goal and this point tastes like very little,” said Real captain Sergio Ramos.
“We were excellent in the first half and kept looking for a goal and created a lot of chances but we couldn’t find one.
“But we were up against a side in great form and this point keeps us level with Barca and now we are focusing on the ‘Clasico’ and getting all three points there.” — Reuters
