Vinicius nets hat-trick but Madrid win is soured
Vinicius Junior scored a hat-trick as Real Madrid ended a run of back-to-back losses in all competitions by hammering Osasuna 4-0 in LaLiga, but the win was soured by an anterrior cruciate ligament injury for defender Eder Militao.
The victory cut the gap to league leader Barcelona to six points, with Carlo Ancelotti's side having lost El Clasico in its previous league game.
Vinicius opened the scoring at Santiago Bernabeu in the 34th minute at the Bernabeu after controlling a pass from Jude Bellingham perfectly to beat the offside trap and fire past goalkeeper Sergio Herrera.
Bellingham then turned scorer eight minutes later, chipping the ball over Herrera's head to double his side's lead and net his first goal of the campaign.
While that goal put Madrid in a commanding position, Vinicius ended it as a contest in the second half with goals in the 61st and 69th minutes.
But celebrations were muted after Madrid confirmed that Militao will undergo surgery after sustaining an ACL tear in match.
The Brazilian was forced off in the 30th minute after hyperextending his knee in an attempt to reach the ball.
Militao, who missed six months of last season with a serious knee injury, received treatment on the pitch before being taken off on a stretcher with tears in his eyes.
He becomes the second Madrid player to suffer an ACL injury this term after Dani Carvajal was sidelined for the rest of the campaign last month.
"After tests carried out today on our player Eder Militao by the Real Madrid Medical Services, he has been diagnosed with a complete rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament with involvement of both menisci in his right leg. Militao will undergo surgery in the coming days," a Real Madrid statement read.
Either side of Militao's injury, team-mates Rodrygo and Lucas Vazquez were also forced off the pitch, overshadowing a much-needed return to winning ways.
Ancelotti said he will be looking to bring in some of the club's youth academy players into the first-team picture to fill the gaps in their injury-hit squad.
Madrid is also without Thibaut Courtois, Aurelien Tchouameni and David Alaba through injury, though Ancelotti was not thinking about making new signings in January.
"I'm not thinking about signings right now because we have to prepare for games with the players we have," Ancelotti said.
"Three injuries in the first half is quite rare. The demanding schedule doesn't allow the players to rest and be fresh.
"We will evaluate the situation in the coming months. The only thing we can do is try to recover as many players as possible. We will see in January what happens."
"Today [academy defender] Raul Asencio came off the bench and made a good contribution, [midfielder] Federico Valverde played fine as a full back.
"We did well last year when we had injuries, and we will do the same this year as well."
