Vinicius Junior goal cancelled out as Betis snatch last-gasp draw against Real Madrid

Following his match-winning strike in Tuesdays victory against Alavés, Vinícius Júnior needed just under 20 minutes to open the scoring at Betis temporary La Cartuja venue.

The Brazilian forward easily tapped in the rebound after Álvaro Valles pushed away Federico Valverdes powerful long-range effort. The home side appeared stunned by Vinícius 13th goal in the league this term and struggled to trouble their rivals.

This held true until the closing moments of the opening half, when they mounted a sudden surge. Standing in for the injured Thibaut Courtois, Andriy Lunin had to pull off three vital saves in rapid succession, with two excellent blocks denying Antony.

Alerted to the fragility of their advantage, Real Madrid momentarily believed they had doubled their lead as Kylian Mbappé smashed in a volley from Trent Alexander-Arnolds lofted delivery.

Yet the linesmans flag and VAR review showed Mbappé was offside, nullifying the goal on his 100th outing for the club.

As Real Madrid clung to their slim edge, Manuel Pellegrinis squad came close to drawing level via substitute Cucho Hernández at the break, whose powerful half-volley was tipped over by the sharp Lunin.

Betis keeper Valles then had to intervene to deny Mbappé and Valverde, preserving his sides hopes of grabbing a share of the spoils.

Those interventions proved crucial as Héctor Bellerín fired in a thrilling leveller in the fourth minute of added time. The ex-Arsenal defender reacted quickest to a bobble in the area, slotting a calm effort inside the post to prolong Real Madrids LaLiga shutout drought to 10 games.

Belleríns second strike of the campaign lifts fifth-placed Betis six points ahead of their pursuers, leaving Barcelona poised to widen their advantage over Real Madrid to 11 points.