Vinicius Junior and Kylian Mbappe, the dynamic pair for Real Madrid, both scored from penalties as their team defeated Real Sociedad 2-0 in La Liga, moving them closer to the top of the standings.
At the Reale Arena on Saturday, Real Madrid defeated Real Sociedad 2-0 to continue their stellar La Liga campaign. Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior’s penalties secured the victory and pulled Los Blancos to within one point of league leaders Barcelona.
In a thrilling La Liga match on Saturday, Real Madrid defeated Real Sociedad 2-0 thanks to goals from Vinicius Junior and Kylian Mbappe. The Spanish champions closed the gap on leaders Barcelona, who take on Girona, the surprise team from the previous season, on Sunday.
Before Madrid’s second-half penalty kicks gave them three points from an end-to-end match at the Reale Arena, Real Sociedad struck the woodwork three times. The Italian benched Rodrygo Goes in favor of Brahim Diaz due to the absence of injured midfielders Jude Bellingham and Aurelien Tchouameni.
“It was a tough game, probably we didn’t deserve to win because Real Sociedad played very well… but we bore it out, we suffered, we were committed in the tough moments of the game and I value that a lot,” Carlo Ancelotti, the coach of Real Madrid, stated.
“This sacrifice and commitment from a team with such quality, you cannot always find — and today we found it.”
All eyes were on the French forward after Mbappe scored twice in his previous game to score his first goals in La Liga. A strong save by Real Sociedad goalkeeper Alex Remiro prevented the former Paris Saint-Germain attacker from scoring, and some desperate defending ended his explosive surge forward.
Luka Sucic, a recent newcomer, struck the bar with a long-range attempt, causing Real Sociedad to hit the woodwork for the first of three times.
After Diaz was hurt, Ancelotti substituted Rodrygo. The champions had two good chances: an attempt across the goal by Mbappe and a header by Antonio Rudiger that Remiro pulled out. Sheraldo Becker, a forward for Real Sociedad, was played in, but he struck the bar.
Early in the second half, Sucic struck low against the post, but Madrid eventually took advantage of the Basque team’s lack of luck in front of goal. In the 58th minute, Vinicius scored from close range after Sergio Gomez had stopped Arda Guler’s attempt, and Mbappe quickly followed.
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The moment Jon Aramburu stepped on Vinicius’ foot, the French sensation sent Remiro spinning. Madrid played the final fifteen minutes without incident in preparation for their Champions League comeback against Stuttgart on Tuesday.
With five La Liga games under his belt, Mbappe has already scored three goals for Real Madrid, two of which have come from penalty kicks.
“They are establishing strong connections, generating significant risk,” stated goalie Thibaut Courtois. They are a little short on goals in open play, but we have a lot of danger up front and will score a lot of goals with them.
“Today it was from the penalty spot, but they count too.”
After lasting 37 league games without a loss since September 2023, Los Blancos last experienced defeat in La Liga. This season, Real Sociedad has only won once in five games, but Imanol Alguacil’s squad performed admirably.
“We had a great first half, we had a lot of chances, the game was alive,” Igor Zubeldia of Real Sociedad stated.
“In the second half we started well but the penalty was a tough blow… we were comfortable, it changed the whole game for us.”
Earlier, Villarreal climbed into provisional third place with a 2-1 victory against Mallorca, while Sevilla secured their first win of the season with a close 1-0 success over Getafe.