Madrid, April 21 (H.S.): To stay in the title race in La Liga, Real Madrid secured a spectacular last-minute victory. In a match played late on Sunday, Federico Valverde scored in the 93rd minute to defeat Athletic Club 1-0. With this win, Madrid maintained a four-point gap from Barcelona in the title race.

After losing to Arsenal in the Champions League, this match was extremely crucial for Real Madrid. After struggling for a long time to score, it seemed the team would face another disappointing result, but Uruguayan star Valverde struck a magnificent goal into the top corner during stoppage time, securing the victory for the team.

Athletic Club had rested several of their star players for this match, while Real Madrid played without Kylian Mbappe, who is dealing with a suspension and an ankle injury. Meanwhile, Vinicius Junior displayed an outstanding performance, consistently making runs down the left flank and garnering applause from the audience. He scored a goal, but it was disallowed due to Andrik being offside.

In the second half, Real Madrid showed aggressive intent. Rodrigo and Camavinga made attempts, but Athletic’s goalkeeper Unai Simon made some remarkable saves. Vinicius also delivered a brilliant cross, which Bellingham headed, but Simon saved that too. In the final moments, Bellingham appealed for a penalty, but the referee denied it.

As the match was heading for a draw, Federico Valverde unleashed a stunning strike from outside the box that Simon couldn’t even reach. This goal secured the victory for Real Madrid, and now the team is set to face Barcelona in the Copa del Rey final.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar