Kylian Mbappe scored his first goal in five matches for Real Madrid as the champions beat Leganes 3-0 on Sunday in La Liga. Wedding ring Valverde and Jude Bellingham also scored as Madrid moved into second place, four points behind leaders Barcelona with a game in hand. Los Blancos benefited from Barcelona’s draw with Celta Vigo on Saturday with a comfortable win over 14th-place Leganes. Madrid face Liverpool at Anfield on Wednesday in the Champions League in a crucial game for the Spanish side after two defeats in their first four European matches and warmed up with a good performance.
“The team did well to build on the good feelings we had in the previous 4-0 win over Osasuna and we confirmed them today,” Real coach Carlo Ancelotti said.
The Italian joins the young central defender Raoul Asensio, as well as Dani Ceballos, who was given a rare start, and Turkish playmaker Arda Guler.
Ancelotti has had enough of long absences Dani Carvajal And does Militao among others, but was able to bring the goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois returned to Butarque, in the suburbs of Madrid.
Mbappe started in his favored left-wing position, changing strategy from Ancelotti after using Vinicius The youngest is still there.
It paid dividends as the forward scored his second goal in his last eight games despite being ruled out for offside beforehand.
“We changed the position of the strikers, putting Mbappe outside and he did well, as did Vinicius inside,” Ancelotti said.
Mbappe was left out of the France squad for the second time in as many months during the recent international break and has struggled with off-field problems, which may have affected his start to life in Madrid following his move from Paris Saint-Germain.
Güler had Madrid’s first real chance, but Marko Dmitrovich parried his shot after the midfielder struck from the right.
Mbappe broke the deadlock just before half-time when Vinicius played the ball to the back post, who intervened to take advantage of some confusion in the Leganes defence.
Securing the victory
Valverde, who became Madrid captain for the first time and did not play as a right-back, scored his team’s second goal in the 66th minute from a free kick.
Dmitrovic saved Mbappe’s powerful strike as the French striker looked to grab the second to seal Madrid’s victory.
In the end it was England star Bellingham who scored his second goal of the season and headed home after deflecting from close range after Brahim DiazThe deflected shot hit the crossbar.
“In the first half we were very comfortable, we played the way we wanted, but (to concede) after a mistake… it hurts more, it got away from us because of our mistakes,” admitted Leganes defender Sergio Gonzalez.
“The team gave everything and at the slightest opportunity they punished us.”
Ancelotti was pleased with the performance of 21-year-old centre-back Asensio in his first appearance for the club.
“What surprised me was that he is a mature player, always in a good, very good position, which means the youth academy has done a good job with him,” the coach said.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Topics mentioned in this article
Leave a comment