Vinicius bags brace as Real Madrid beat Espanyol to postpone Barca title party

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/espanyol/QFfPdh1J/"]Espanyol[/a] were in the strange position of knowing they could hand the title to city rivals [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/barcelona/SKbpVP5K/"]Barça[/a] if they took anything from the game, and they could have gone ahead inside three minutes when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/fernandez-roberto/l2dekgrS/"]Roberto Fernández[/a] scuffed a shot wide from 15 yards out.[/p][p]The hosts did not look like a team who had failed to win any of their previous 16 matches (D6, L10) as they made a strong start, although they were grateful to see [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/vinicius-junior/CbwQ4Mws/"]Vinícius[/a]’ deflected effort cannon off the post in the eighth minute.[/p][p]That chance signalled a change of momentum as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/real-madrid/W8mj7MDD/"]Real[/a] took control, before the hosts briefly thought they had been reduced to 10 men when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/el-hilali-omar/z9FaGS78/"]Omar El Hilali[/a] received a straight red card for a late challenge on Vinícius in the 25th minute.[/p][image alt="Match stats" id="3386eae4-91b1-4ef7-89e2-bb2f011f0c5d" credit-line="Opta by StatsPerform" guid="f29b9c8f-68a9-416d-824b-d9a448596132" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][p]However, referee Jesús Gil Manzano downgraded it to a booking after consulting the pitchside monitor. [/p][p]The home fans’ furious reaction to that decision appeared to spark Espanyol into life, and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/dolan-tyrhys/8plzNuNt/"]Tyrhys Dolan[/a] blazed a good chance over the crossbar.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/valverde-federico/nscfER6B/"]Federico Valverde[/a] then nodded straight at [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/dmitrovic-marko/pO8Jn4Xm/"]Marko Dmitrović[/a] before [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/diaz-brahim/nm2Qvnyk/"]Brahim Díaz[/a] fired over on the turn for Real, while [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/lunin-andriy/0S7ye9jr/"]Andriy Lunin[/a] made a brilliant save to keep out [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/cabrera-leandro/IsOwrMdM/"]Leandro Cabrera[/a]’s close-range header in first-half stoppage time.[/p][p][b]Real had 45 minutes to delay the Barça party, and they made the breakthrough 10 minutes after half time when Vinícius exchanged passes with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/garcia-gonzalo/pWxyEyDA/"]Gonzalo García[/a] in the box, before slotting past Dmitrović. [/b][/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/terrats-ramon/rLsgetTF/"]Ramon Terrats[/a] almost equalised instantly with an acrobatic effort, but the ball struck a team-mate and looped over the crossbar, before the midfielder curled just wide of Lunin’s far post.[/p][p][b]Vinícius would not be upstaged, though, and doubled the lead midway through the half when he took [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bellingham-jude/QNvlPm7s/"]Jude Bellingham[/a]’s back-heel in his stride and fired into the top corner.[/b][/p][embed guid="9aaef587-409f-4b14-be7f-7f89c653a3e8" url="https://x.com/LaLigaEN/status/2051036092023886048" social-type="twitter" /][p]It was the Brazilian’s 21st goal of the season across all competitions, and his eighth goal involvement in the past seven games against Espanyol (G5, A3).[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/romero-carlos/YDxiIlER/"]Carlos Romero[/a] fired straight at Lunin as the hosts searched for a response, but it was in vain as they failed to score for the fourth time in five matches.[/p][p]This hard-fought victory ends Real’s three-game winless run on the road, but they must beat Barcelona at Camp Nou next Sunday to keep their very faint title hopes alive for another week.[/p][p]Meanwhile, Espanyol are still waiting for their first win of 2026 and could find themselves only three points above the bottom three if Sevilla beat Real Sociedad on Monday.[/p][p][b]Flashscore Man of the Match: [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/vinicius-junior/CbwQ4Mws/"]Vinícius Júnior[/a] ([a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/real-madrid/W8mj7MDD/"]Real Madrid[/a])[/b][/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/espanyol-QFfPdh1J/real-madrid-W8mj7MDD/?mid=tp9sPrLs"]Check out all the match stats with Flashscore.[/a][/b][/p]