Federico Valverde of Real Madrid. (AP Photo/Lalo R. Villar) Federico Valverde’s heavily deflected drive in the 95th minute injured Real Madrid as they won 2-1 at Celta Vigo in La Liga on Friday.The Uruguayan midfielder needed luck at the death to pull his side within one point of leaders Barcelona, who visit Athletic Bilbao on Saturday.Aurelien Tchouameni opened the scoring for Los Blancos early on, but Borja Iglesias soon pulled Celta back at their Balaidos stadium.Alvaro Arbeloa’s Madrid, without injured striker Kylian Mbappe, have lost their previous two league games and are struggling to find consistent form.Valverde’s shot, which flew into the Celta net after deflecting off former Barcelona defender Marcos Alonso, ended his side’s run of three consecutive La Liga games without a win.“There’s a long way to go in La Liga, there are a lot of points to play for… at the moment it’s almost as if La Liga hasn’t started yet,” Arbeloa told reporters.“Every game you play against a team that has its own goals and every game is going to be a war.“We came here with 10 players, so I think our victory deserves a lot of praise.As well as French superstar Mbappe, the team’s top scorer, Arbeloa was without several other players including Jude Bellingham, Rodrygo Goes and Eduardo Camavinga.Despite the win, Madrid’s form and injury list do not inspire confidence ahead of next week’s Champions League last 16 tie against Manchester City.Arbeloa was given his first start by 18-year-old midfielder Thiago Pitarch and put in a decent show, although his team failed to impress.Iglesias forced Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois into a solid low save with a drive from the edge of the penalty area in the opening exchanges.Arbeloa’s side started well and Vinicius Junior hit the post before Tchouameni put them through in the 11th minute.The French midfielder produced a fine finish from the edge of the box when Madrid played him a corner and his shot hit the crossbar on its way in.Celta were undeterred though and some poor defending by Trent Alexander-Arnold let them back in.The England international allowed Williot Swedberg to get behind him and then lacked the agility to unblock the Swede who cut the ball in for Iglesias to finish.A win wonCourtois produced a fine save to keep Swedberg at bay before the break as sixth-placed Celta largely put in a good performance.Madrid appealed for a penalty when Ferran Jutgla handled the ball in the box, but a VAR review showed a push on a Celta defender just before that and no spot-kick was awarded.Celta substitute Iago Aspas hit the post late on and his side looked destined for a point as the clock ticked down.However, in the final minute of stoppage time, Valverde’s effort from the edge of the box struck Alonso and left Celta goalkeeper Ionuto Rada wrong-footed.“We hardly gave up any chances and the shot at the end was well saved, so we’re a bit upset (to lose),” Iglesias told Movistar.Arbeloa said he hoped Madrid’s determination to get three points could be a platform to build from moving forward.“I know we can do a lot of things better, but with the personality and character we showed today, I hope this is a turning point and everything goes much better from there,” added Arbeloa.
