Real Madrid Held to High-scoring Draw at Rayo Vallecano in La Liga

Real Madrid was held at Rayo Vallecano to 3-3 in a thrilling derby on Saturday, missing a chance to overtake Barcelona at the top of La Liga, The Associated Press reported.
Rayo set a fast pace and stunned the powerhouse with two headed goals from Unai López and Abdul Mumin to lead 2-0 by the 36th minute.
Federico Valverde struck with a powerful shot from well outside the area to pull one back for Madrid then Jude Bellingham headed the visitors level from a pass by Rodrygo just before halftime.
Madrid looked on course to completing a comeback win when Rodrygo put them in front for the first time with a deflected shot in the 56th.
But Rayo midfield leader Isi Palazón stretched out a boot to steer Florian Lejeune’s shot past Thibaut Courtois in the 64th.
Madrid was without striker Kylian Mbappé, who is nursing a left-thigh injury. Vinícius Júnior went on as a second-half substitute. Goalie Augusto Batalla saved the Brazilian’s best effort in the final period.
Madrid remained second, one point behind Barcelona.
Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti admitted his team dropped its guard in defense when his players left López and Mumin unchecked to turn in crosses. But he said he was “satisfied” with his team’s reaction, especially given the injuries to defensive starters Dani Carvajal, Eder Militao, and Ferland Mendy.
He also looked to last season, when his team drew twice with Rayo.
“Last year we didn’t win here, we drew, and we won the league anyway,” Ancelotti said. “We are playing well and on the right path. So, we had a draw. We need to look toward the next games."
Madrid, as the Champions League titleholder, next travels to Qatar to play the Intercontinental Cup final against Mexican club Pachuca.
“We have a great chance to win a title on Wednesday, which would put the cherry on top of a great year," Ancelotti said.
Bellingham took his league scoring run to six games in a row.
Vinícius will miss the next game at home against Sevilla after picking up his fifth yellow card, this time for protesting.
Rayo was in 13th place. The modest club has also held Atletico Madrid to 1-1 and forced Barcelona to rally for a 2-1 thanks to a late goal.
“Before the game we talked about all our recent games with Real Madrid when we had been close to winning, so we knew that if they weren't on their game then we could get a good result,” Rayo coach Íñigo Pérez said.
Navas farewells Sevilla fans Sevilla’s Jesus Navas bid farewell to his home fans during a 1-0 win over Celta Vigo as he nears the end of his 20-year playing career.
Players from both teams wore T-shirts saying “Navas Legend” before kickoff. They gave a tearful Navas an honor guard with trophies he won with the club placed on the pitch. Navas wept again, and kneeled to kiss the turf when he was substituted with 20 minutes left.
Navas announced in May he would retire at the end of the year, midway through this season.
Navas, who turned 39 last month, debuted for his boyhood club in 2004 and played two stints for Sevilla on either side of his spell at Manchester City from 2013-17 when he helped it win one Premier League. He helped Sevilla win two Europa Leagues and two Copa del Reys among other titles.
Navas helped Spain win the European Championship last summer, his second. He was also part of the 2010 World Cup champion squad.
His last game will be at Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu Stadium on Dec. 22.
Larin scored two goals, one while Mallorca was down to 10 men, to complete a 2-1 comeback win over Girona at home.
Larin scored from an assist by Vedat Muriqi to cancel out Girona’s opener by Donny Van de Beek.
Mallorca went down a man in the 32nd when Muriqi was red-carded for a hard foul of Byran Gil. But Larin got his brace when he pressured goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga and slid to deflect the goalie’s clearance attempt into the goal for the 51st-minute winner
Espanyol held Osasuna to 0-0 at home.

The Competitions Committee of the Gulf Football Federation announced Sunday that the final match of the "26th Arabian Gulf Cup" championship has been rescheduled to Saturday, January 4, 2024.

The match, originally planned for Friday, January 3, 2024, will take place at Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium, SPA reported.
Head of the Competitions Committee Khaled Al-Muqrin stated that the decision to postpone the final was made during a committee meeting and after consultations with the Gulf federations, all of which approved the change.
The semi-final matches will proceed as originally scheduled. The first semi-final will feature Saudi Arabia against Oman on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. at Jaber Al-Mubarak Stadium in Kuwait. The second semi-final, between Bahrain and Kuwait, will take place later that evening at 8:45 p.m. at Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium.

Real Madrid Held to High-scoring Draw at Rayo Vallecano in La Liga