Vinicius Junior sent off as Real Madrid goal is ruled out in unique VAR incident

Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior was sent off after having a goal disallowed in the same incident during his side’s 1-0 La Liga victory over Villarreal on Saturday.

The unusual sequence occurred in the 72nd minute, when the referee cancelled out Vinicius’ effort after judging that he had committed an off-the-ball offence against Villarreal defender Nathan Saliba in the build-up.

Vinicius was shown a red card after pulling Saliba’s hair forcefully, leaving Real Madrid to play the final 20 minutes with 10 men. His goal was also ruled out as a result of the incident.

Real Madrid had already taken the lead through Ivory Coast forward Yan Diomande, who scored the only goal of the match in the 62nd minute.

The statistics account MisterChip, run by Alexis, said the incident was unprecedented since the introduction of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) in La Liga.

“For the first time since VAR has been used in La Liga, the scorer of a goal has been sent off and had his goal disallowed in the same incident,” the account posted.

The claim was published on 10 October 2026 alongside the hashtag #OJOALDATO.

Despite Vinicius’ dismissal, Real Madrid held on to secure all three points against Villarreal. The result moved them temporarily up to third in the La Liga table on 16 points.

Real Madrid’s next fixture will be against Sevilla in the ninth round of the competition.