Watch: Paulista Sent Off for Violent Foul on Vinicius Junior

• Gabriel Paulista received a straight red card against Real Madrid on Thursday
• The central defender kicked out at Vinicius Junior inside the second half
• Real Madrid defeated Valencia 2-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu

Valencia centre-back Gabriel Paulista received the marching orders for a brutal infringement on Real Madrid winger Vinicius Junior on Thursday evening.

The unfortunate incident transpired inside the second half at the Sanitiago Bernabeu after Vinicius had bribbled past the ex-Arsenal central defender.

Gabriel, making no attempt to play the ball, aggressively hacked at the legs of his fellow Brazilian.

Fortunately for Vinicius, he had seen Gabriel coming and had jumped into the air in an attempt to evade the assault.

Had the Real player's leg been grounded at the time of impact, a serious injury could have occurred

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Gabriel's attack on Vinicius may have been motivated by what had happed 18 minutes earlier.

Vinicius spectacularly outpaced the defender en route to scoring Real's second goal.

Carlo Ancelotti's men recorded a 2-0 triumph to move to within five points of La Liga leaders Barcelona.

Asensio's cracking goal

Marco Asensio's long-range effort paved the way for Real Madrid to pick all three points at stake against Valencia.

After huffing and puffing to no avail in the first half, Asensio finally broke the deadlock for Carlo Ancelotti's men seven minutes after recess.

Having been handed his first start since January 22, the Spanish forward repaid the confidence reposed in him by Ancelotti with a stunning drive.

The 27-year-old who has developed a knack for scoring superlative goals pulled one from his locker, scoring a jaw-dropping goal from outside the box which left the Valencia goalkeeper stationary.

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Real Madrid reduced Barcelona's La Liga lead to five points with a 2-0 win over Valencia on Thursday, thanks to spectacular goals from Marco Asensio and Vinicius Junior, Sports Brief earlier reported.

The duo struck in a three-minute second-half salvo which stunned the visitors at the Santiago Bernabeu, and Valencia were later reduced to 10 men when Gabriel Paulista took a wild hack at Vinicius.

Madrid dominated throughout but an otherwise good night was tainted when captain Karim Benzema went off injured in the second half with an apparent thigh problem, and Eder Militao was also replaced for a similar reason.