'Extraordinary' Vinicius bags brace as Madrid gains on fading Girona

PAMPLONA, Spain — Vinicius Junior struck twice to earn Real Madrid a commanding 10-point lead at the top of La Liga in a 4-2 rout of Osasuna on Saturday, with fading title rival Girona falling to a 1-0 defeat at Getafe.

The Brazilian forward mesmerized for Los Blancos and reached 18 goals across all competitions this season, while Dani Carvajal and Brahim Diaz also found the net in an entertaining romp for Carlo Ancelotti's side.

Girona, which is in second place, was undone by Yellu Santiago's first-half strike and has now suffered four consecutive away defeats — started by a demoralizing 4-0 thrashing at Madrid.

Madrid was without top goalscorer Jude Bellingham, completing a two-match suspension but, with Vinicius in full flow, barely missed the England international at El Sadar in Pamplona.

"I congratulated him, he had an extraordinary game, he made good decisions, he moved very well without the ball, that's where's he's improved the most," Ancelotti said.

"With the ball he's always efficient, and without it he's spectacular at the moment. He's so fast."

Vinicius was in the headlines last week after Real filed a legal complaint over alleged racist insults aimed at the Brazilian by Atletico Madrid and Barcelona fans, but on the pitch, the forward's quality continues to speak for itself.

The 23-year-old dispossessed Alejandro Catena, ran through and calmly rolled the ball past Sergio Herrera to break the deadlock after just four minutes.

Osasuna was quickly back level through Ante Budimir, who finished from close range following a corner.

Vinicius should have restored Madrid's lead moments later after being sent in on goal, but this time Herrera denied him, keeping his balance well as the forward tried to throw him off with stepovers.

Madrid captain Carvajal put his side in front again in the 18th minute, finishing sublimely with the outside of his boot after Fede Valverde cleverly hooked the ball into his path in the box.

Vinicius was booked just before halftime for dissent, his fifth yellow card of the season in La Liga — meaning he is now banned for Athletic Bilbao's visit to the Santiago Bernabeu at the end of March.

Diaz stretched Madrid's lead after an hour with a clinical finish after running onto a long ball, flicked on by Valverde.

'Pressure'

Vinicius grabbed his second a few minutes later with a subtle poked finish, after Valverde sent him hurtling in on goal to complete a hat-trick of assists — it was the striker's 12th league goal of the season.

He started the campaign slowly by his high standards, but has bagged six goals in his last four league matches.

The Brazilian could have completed his hat-trick just a couple of minutes later, but fired wide after another dart into the box past Osasuna's crumbling back line.

Home fans whistled Vinicius as he was substituted in the final stages, but Ancelotti gave the forward a hug as thanks for taking Madrid one step closer to the Spanish title.

"The pressure that he has in terms of the atmosphere, he has to control that a bit more," added Ancelotti, after Vinicius' booking, his third yellow in three league games.

Getafe, despite the absence of top scorer Borja Mayoral, was able to inflict a fourth consecutive away defeat on Michel Sanchez's slumping Girona.

"I have no words to describe this defeat," said Girona winger Savinho.

"We came for three points that were very important and we weren't able to do it."

AFP