Vinícius Júnior scored twice to secure a 2-2 draw for Real Madrid against Valencia in the Spanish league on Saturday. This marked his first time playing at Mestalla Stadium since enduring racial harassment last season.
Jude Bellingham received a red card after the final whistle for protesting the referee’s decision to disallow what could have been the winning goal. The referee ended the game just before Bellingham’s last-ditch header.
Vinícius found the net in the 50th and 76th minutes, nullifying Hugo Duro and Roman Yaremchuk’s first-half goals.
The racial abuse suffered by the Black footballer last May was among the most severe he has faced in Spain. While there were no reports of further racial slurs on Saturday, a significant portion of the crowd jeered Vinícius loudly, chanting “Vinícius is stupid.”
After scoring his first goal, Vinícius raised his fist toward the Valencia fans, and following his equalizer, he gestured toward them, seemingly asking for more support amidst the taunts.
Valencia banned three fans from their stadium for life due to their racial abuse of Vinícius last season. However, the club has also criticized both the player and Real Madrid for unfairly labeling their supporters as predominantly racist.
Vinícius refrained from addressing the fans in a brief interview with Madrid’s club television, simply describing the game as “very difficult.” However, he shared an image on his Instagram account of himself raising his fist after scoring his first goal, accompanied by the statement “The fight continues.”
Before their matches on Sunday, Madrid leads the league by seven points over Girona and nine points over Barcelona.
Duro capitalized with a header on what seemed to be an errant shot by Fran Pérez in the 27th minute, following Federico Valverde’s loss of possession due to a risky pass.
Three minutes later, Yaremchuk intercepted Dani Carvajal’s pass back to Lunin’s area, allowing the Ukrainian forward to round the goalkeeper and slot the ball home.