Vinícius Júnior apologized to Real Madrid teammates and fans after receiving a red card for pulling an opponent's hair during a La Liga win over Villarreal. The incident occurred when Vinícius was celebrating a goal that was later ruled out following video review. Replays showed he pulled Nathan Saliba's hair in the build-up.
Coach José Mourinho skipped his scheduled post-match press conference after the dismissal. Mourinho had left Vinícius out of the starting XI, replacing him with Yan Diomande, citing the forward's struggle to find form. Vinícius entered the game in the 52nd minute with the score tied 0-0.
Diomande opened the scoring 10 minutes later. Vinícius later converted a pass from Jude Bellingham to make it 2-0, prompting Mourinho to celebrate on the pitch. However, a VAR check overturned the goal after confirming the hair-pull, resulting in a straight red card for Vinícius.
The decision left Real Madrid to defend a narrow lead with 10 men, but the team secured a 1-0 victory. The result leaves Real Madrid in third place in the La Liga standings, one point behind Atlético Madrid and six points behind Barcelona leaders.
Source: ESPN Soccer · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing