La Liga has never seen anything quite like it. Vinicius Junior, the Brazilian forward, was sent off during Real Madrid's clash with Villarreal on Saturday evening in the eighth round of the competition.
Real Madrid won the game 1-0, Ivorian Yan Diomande striking in the 62nd minute.
Ten minutes later came the twist. The referee disallowed Vinicius' goal and sent him off for an off-the-ball assault on Villarreal's Nathan Salibe in the move that led to it, the Brazilian having pulled his hair forcefully. Real were left to play around 20 minutes with ten men.
Statistics account "Mister Chip" flagged the rarity of the moment, saying: "For the first time since the introduction of video technology in La Liga, a goalscorer has been sent off and had his goal disallowed in the same move".
The three points lift Real Madrid provisionally up to third in the La Liga table on 18 points. Sevilla are next, in the ninth round.