Real Madrid secured their first La Liga victory of the season with a hard-fought home win against Real Valladolid.
The champions were frustrated for vast periods of the game in Kylian Mbappe’s home debut but hit their attacking stride when the game opened up following Federico Valverde’s second-half breakthrough.
Substitute Brahim Diaz made it 2-0 for Madrid in the 88th minute, collecting a long ball from Eder Militao before dinking it over Valladolid goalkeeper Karl Hein.
Eighteen-year-old debutant Endrick added gloss to the scoreline by powering an effort inside the near post in the final minute of added time.
Valverde changed the momentum in 50th minute by driving a low effort – which took a heavy deflection off Stanko Juric – past goalkeeper Hein to open the scoring.
It followed a tough first half for Carlo Ancelotti’s men in which Valladolid continually sat deep, limiting the available pockets of space and nullifying Mbappe, Vinicius Jr and Rodrygo’s threat.
The game soon sprung into life as Valladolid’s search for an equaliser left more space for the hosts to attack.
Mbappe made a number of good runs but could not mark his home debut with a dream goal.
Madrid, who were held to a 1-1 draw by Mallorca in their La Liga opener last weekend, are next in action when they take on Las Palmas on Thursday (20:30 BST).
READ ALSO FROM SPORTING TRIBUNE
‘I’m sure Wolverhampton is a nice town’, Madueke apologises for social media post
Mikel Arteta's side had dropped to second place for the first time since October....
Nico Gonzalez’s stunning strike fired Manchester City into the FA Cup final...
Barcelona are now 11 points clear of their rivals with both teams having five games…
“FCT remains a hub for grassroots tennis development, with players from other states...
Isak has endured a bitterly frustrating spell since completing a British record £125m move from…
Europe’s biggest clubs are packed with elite wide attackers, yet only a select few can…
This website uses cookies.