Vinicius says he had only one thing on his mind when Santiago Solari threw him on in search of inspiration – scoring.
The Brazilian teenager was a last throw of the dice for Solari, who was in danger of seeing his first league game as Real Madrid interim coach end in a disappointing home draw with an in-form Real Valladolid.
Vinicius was bright when he came on for the final 20 minutes yet he needed a huge portion of luck to score a goal that wasn’t truly his, as his wild shot wickedly deflected off a Valladolid defender.
A Sergio Ramos penalty then added the gloss in a 2-0 victory – sending Real sixth in La Liga, eight points behind Barcelona – and Vinicius is confident the result was the start of something bigger.
“I thought of scoring,” he told Real Madrid TV when asked what he was thinking when he entered the fray. “It was with the help of all the other players that I was able to score my first goal.
“When I had the ball I thought I could score. I counted ‘one, two, three’ and shot hard.
“We needed this victory. Little by little we need to add more and return to where we belong. It’s important to get back there.”
