Pellegrini insists Real deserved victory in Madrid derby

Real Madrid coach Manuel Pellegrini felt his side were full value for their derby win over cross-city rivals Atletico, but admitted it was an uncomfortable end to the match as their hosts attempted to stage a late fightback following Sergio Ramos’ dismissal.

The men in white, who have not lost a league match at the Vicente Calderon since the 1998-99 season, looked to be cruising to a comprehensive victory as goals from Kaka, Marcelo and Gonzalo Higuain saw them leading 3-0 midway through the second half.

However, the 66th-minute red card shown to Ramos for his challenge on Sergio Aguero on the edge of the box gave Atletico a foothold back into the match, and they gave Real a huge scare it as Diego Forlan and Aguero struck to make it 3-2 heading into the final 10 minutes.

Atletico poured men forward in search of the equaliser, and Simao Sabrosa sliced a good chance wide before Aguero was denied by the feet of Iker Casillas in injury time as Real managed to hold on for the victory.

Pellegrini said: “We had a good first half and Atletico did not cause us any danger in this period. We scored two goals and we had more clear opportunities.

“In the second half we had the game under control quite well until the sending-off. That event made the match tough for us and Atleti were able to score two goals in a minute and got a scoreline they didn’t deserve.

“At 3-2, with Atletico throwing everything forward, and in any attack could have scored, we went through some very difficult moments in the last few minutes of the match.

“Atletico have players who can decide a game at any time, but a draw would have been unjust because it wouldn’t have reflected at all the superiority that we had throughout the game.”

Regarding the second-half incident when he appeared to be struck by something thrown from the crowd, Pellegrini said: “It was a stone that hit me on the side of the face. The referee asked if I was okay and I told him that there was no problem.”

The victory over Atletico was Real’s second successive derby win with only 10 men, having downed Getafe 2-0 last weekend when Raul Albiol was sent off with more than an hour to be played.