Real Madrid dropped points for just the second time in the league this season as the visiting Girona held them 1-1 at Santiago Bernabeu.
Vinicius Jr’s goal was cancelled out by a Cristhian Stuani penalty as the game left Carlo Ancelotti furious at the referee’s decisions.
Coming into the contest on the back of a defeat in the Champions League, Real Madrid settled into the game early with Girona happy to sit back and look for the counter-attacks.
Rodrygo went closest to opening the scoring for the hosts when his shot bounced off the post while Girona had their chances with Valery Fernandez just sending his header wide before Yangel Herrera saw his powerful strike cannon off the crossbar.
With time running out Real finally found the breakthrough when the in-form Federico Valverde found Vinicius in the box with the Brazilian easily tapping the ball home.
Substitute Marco Asensio almost doubled the lead just two minutes later only for Girona keeper Paulo Gazzaniga to deny the Spanish international with a reflex save.
Fate quickly turned against Asensio as just minutes later he was judged to have handled the ball leading to a penalty for Girona which Stuani dispatched with ease in the 80th minute.
There was still time for more controversy as Rodrygo managed to bundle the ball home after a penalty box scramble in the dying stages only for the referee to rule that Gazzaniga had control of the ball before the Brazilian poked it free.
To make matters worse Toni Kross was then sent off in the added time for the first time in his career after picking up a second yellow card.
The defeat to Girona means Real’s lead at the top of the La Liga table is down to just a single point over Barcelona.
