It was Lucas Vazquez’s goal in the 92nd minute that put Real Madrid on top of La Liga. They beat Alaves 1-0 on Thursday. Madrid moved ahead of Girona to the top spot with a goal from defender Vazquez. Earlier in the day, this season’s surprise gifts were held to a 1-1 draw at Real Betis. Madrid was already having a tough time against Basque hosts Alaves before their defender, Nacho Fernandez, was sent off 10 minutes after halftime.

It looked like Madrid would tie Madrid in the Spanish top flight going into 2024, so it was late in the second half, and Girona would be in first place. But 32-year-old Vazquez had other ideas.

Toni Kroos, an experienced defender for Germany, sent in a corner, and Vazquez scored his first goal of the season with a free header. With this win, Real Madrid are now ahead of Barcelona in the table by goal difference, and La Liga will not play again until January 2.

In Seville, Artem Dovbyk’s penalty kick in the first half, which was his 11th goal of the season, looked like it would give Girona their fourth straight win and ninth win in their last 10 games.

But German Pezzella, who won the World Cup with Argentina, tied the game with two minutes left. This meant that Betis had now gone 13 games without losing, with nine of those games ending in draws.

This is only the fourth time in 18 games that Girona has lost points this season. The club is partly owned by the same people who own Manchester City.

Goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga of Girona made two great saves in the first half, one from Willian Jose and the other from Ayoze Perez. Then, after Aitor Ruibal fouled Savio in the area, Lazio scored.

As he did in his first season in Spain, Dovbyk smoothly rolled home the penalty kick to keep up his good play.

However, Girona failed to clear a late corner, and Pezzella slammed the loose ball past Gazzaniga. The team is making an unusual title run in only their fourth season in the top flight.

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In other news, Real Mallorca beat Osasuna 3-2, which was only their third win of the season and put them five points above the relegation zone.