Nine-man Madrid loses at home for first time this season

MADRID: Real Madrid had two players sent off in its 2-0 home defeat to Celta Vigo on Sunday and lost more ground to Spanish league leader Barcelona.

Madrid conceded early in the second half and then saw red cards for Fran Garcia and Alvaro Carreras in its first defeat of the season at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in all competitions. Unused Madrid substitute Endrick also was shown a red card for complaining.

Williot Swedberg scored for the visitors with a nice flick from near the penalty spot in the 54th.

Madrid lost Garcia with a second yellow card in the 64th and Carreras in stoppage time. Swedberg sealed Celta's victory in a breakaway shortly after Madrid was reduced to nine players.

"We are all upset. It wasn't the game or the result that we wanted,” Madrid coach Xabi Alonso said. "The referee's decisions threw us off balance. I didn't like the refereeing."

Madrid has won only two of its last seven matches across all tournaments. It next hosts Manchester City in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Madrid's only other league loss this season was a heavy defeat at Atletico Madrid in September. It also lost at Liverpool in the league phase of the Champions League in November.

Sunday's setback left Alonso's team four points behind Barcelona. The Catalan club won 5-3 at Real Betis on Saturday. Madrid is only one point ahead of third-placed Villarreal, which has a game in hand.

Vinicius Junior and Kylian Mbappe both had good chances to equalize for Madrid but couldn't capitalise on their opportunities.

Celta moved to 10th place with its second win in three league games.