Gabriel Paulista Sent Off For Violent Foul On Real Madrid Star Vinicius Junior
Valencia defender Gabriel Paulista was shown a straight red card for a violent foul on Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior on Thursday night.
The incident occurred in the 72nd minute at the Bernabeu after Vinicius had skipped past the former Arsenal center-back.
Gabriel, making no attempt to play the ball, aggressively hacked at the legs of his fellow Brazilian.
Gabriel Paulista pictured kicking Vinicius Junior during Real Madrid's 2-0 win over Valencia
ESPN
Fortunately for Vinicius, he had seen Gabriel coming and had jumped into the air in an attempt to evade the assault.
Had the Real player's leg been grounded at the time of impact, a serious injury could have occurred.
Gabriel's attack on Vinicius may have been motivated by what had happened 18 minutes earlier.
Vinicius spectacularly outpaced the defender en route to scoring Real's second goal.
Marco Asensio had earlier fired Real ahead with a long-range thunderbolt.
Real won the game 2-0 to move to within five points of La Liga leaders Barcelona.
