Parrott haunts Mourinho as Betis beat Real Madrid and Vallés denies Mbappé
Troy Parrott's 81st-minute rebound and an injury-time penalty save from Álvaro Vallés handed José Mourinho his first league defeat since returning to Real Madrid.
Football keeps its receipts. In December 2019, José Mourinho handed a 17-year-old Troy Parrott his Premier League debut at Tottenham. On Friday night in Seville, the Dublin-born striker — now 24 and two weeks into his Real Betis career — came off the bench to score the goal that inflicted Mourinho's first league defeat since taking over at Real Madrid, a 1-0 Betis win sealed by Álvaro Vallés' stoppage-time penalty save from Kylian Mbappé.
Madrid hit the woodwork, Betis hit the net
For long stretches this was a familiar story of Madrid dominance without reward. Vinícius Júnior rattled the post in the 15th minute and Dean Huijsen struck the crossbar in first-half stoppage time, per Yahoo Sports' match report. Manuel Pellegrini's response was to go to his bench — and it won him the game. In the 81st minute, Nelson Deossa met a Pablo Fornals corner with a header that Thibaut Courtois clawed away brilliantly, but Parrott reacted first and drilled the rebound home, according to The Irish Times.
The late drama
Madrid thought they had levelled when Carlos Espí finished in the 88th minute, only for the goal to be ruled out for offside. Then came the moment that will replay all weekend: deep in injury time, Natan fouled Vinícius in the box and Mbappé stepped up — but Vallés read the stuttering run-up, dived left and kept it out.
Why it matters
Parrott only joined Betis from AZ Alkmaar on August 20, per The Irish Times, and already has the biggest goal of the Spanish season so far. For Mourinho, whose early faith in Parrott at Spurs later cooled, the defeat is a first blemish on his Madrid return — and an early reminder that in La Liga, control of the ball is not control of the scoreboard.