Late goals from Luka Modric and Jude Bellingham gave ten-man Real Madrid a 2-1 comeback win at relegation-threatened Valencia on Friday and moved them to the top of the LaLiga standings.

Real Madrid trailed by one goal with five minutes left, but managed another comeback when Bellingham scored the winner seven minutes into stoppage time, moving Madrid to 43 points, two points clear of second-place Atlético Madrid, who still had a game to play has in front of him.

The match, postponed due to devastating floods in the region at the end of October, began in a tense atmosphere after home fans clashed with police during anti-club protests outside Mestalla.

However, it was an exciting start on the pitch as both Madrid’s Federico Valverde and Valencia’s Hugo Duro came close to breaking the deadlock in the opening minutes, but their attempts were blocked.

Duro then gave Valencia the lead in the 27th minute, scoring an open goal after Thibaut Courtois blocked Javi Guerra’s initial shot from close range.

Madrid pushed hard for an equalizer but Bellingham missed a golden chance to score with a weak penalty that hit the post after an Enzo Barrenechea foul on Kylian Mbappé in the 55th minute.

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Mbappe thought he had equalized five minutes later, but his shot was disallowed by VAR for offside.

Carlo Ancelotti’s side were then reduced to ten men in the 79th minute when Vinícius Júnior was shown a red card for hitting Valencia goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski.

The Brazilian striker later apologized for his behavior on his X account, where he wrote: “Sorry and thank you team.”

But substitute Modric finally brought the visitors level when he beat Dimitrievski with a low shot from Bellingham’s through ball with five minutes remaining.

The England midfielder then secured victory by attacking the goal before calmly beating the goalkeeper with a right-footed shot, handing the hosts their first defeat under new coach Carlos Corberan.

“The missed penalty gave (Bellingham) extra motivation, he gave a few minutes like only he can. He worked hard, the goal is a deserved reward for the game he played,” coach Ancelotti said at a press conference after the game.

Valencia remains second from bottom with 12 points, four points from the safety zone.

“It hurts a lot to lose like that. We are not in good shape and we had chances,” Valencia striker Duro told Movistar.

“It hurts a lot to lose the advantage like that, especially after being sent off. We have to concentrate on the pitch. We don’t care what’s outside. The fans helped us.”