by Vinicius Junior and Kylian Mbappe both scored from the penalty spot to give Real Madrid a 2-0 win at Real Sociedad in La Liga on Saturday.
The Spanish champions moved within one point of leaders Barcelona, who face last year’s surprise team Girona on Sunday.
Real Sociedad hit the woodwork three times before Madrid won penalties in the second half to take three points from a match between equal sides at the Reale Arena.
“It was a tough game, we probably didn’t deserve to win because Real Sociedad played very well… but we persevered, we suffered, we were committed in the difficult moments of the game and I appreciate that a lot,” said Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti.
“This level of sacrifice and commitment is not always found in a team of this quality – and today we found it.”
The Italian had to do without injured midfielders Jude Bellingham and Aurelien Tchouameni and put Rodrygo Goes on the bench for Brahim Diaz.
After Mbappe scored two goals in his last game, his first goals in La Liga, all eyes were on the French striker.
The former Paris Saint-Germain striker forced Real Sociedad goalkeeper Alex Remiro into a brilliant save and his foray forward was interrupted by a last-minute save.
Real Sociedad hit the woodwork for the first of three times when new signing Luka Sucic hit the crossbar with a long-range shot.
Ancelotti brought on Rodrygo after Diaz sustained an injury and the champions went close to scoring thanks to an Antonio Rüdiger header saved by Remiro and a shot from Mbappé.
On the other side, Real Sociedad striker Sheraldo Becker hit the crossbar after a play-in.
– Penalties also count –
Sucic fired a low shot onto the post early in the second half as the Basques were running out of luck in front of goal and Madrid inevitably capitalised.
Vinicius converted a penalty in the 58th minute after Sergio Gomez blocked Arda Guler’s shot with his hand, and Mbappe followed suit shortly after.
The French superstar sent Remiro the wrong way from the penalty spot after Jon Aramburu stepped on Vinicius’ foot.
Madrid survived the remaining 15 minutes without any stress before returning to Champions League action on Tuesday against Stuttgart.
Mbappe has now scored three goals in five La Liga games for Madrid, although two of them have come from the penalty spot.
“They work well together and pose a lot of danger,” said goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.
“In the game itself they lack a little bit of scoring opportunities, but against them we are very dangerous up front and will score a lot of goals.”
“Today it was a penalty, but those count too.”
The last defeat in La Liga was in September 2023, and since then they have remained unbeaten in 37 league games.
Real Sociedad have won just one of five games this season, but Imanol Alguacil’s team have played well.
“We had a great first half, we had a lot of chances, the game was lively,” said Real Sociedad’s Igor Zubeldia.
“We started well in the second half, but the penalty was a hard blow. We felt comfortable, it changed the whole game for us.”
Previously, Sevilla had achieved its first win of the season with a narrow 1-0 victory against Getafe and Villarreal moved provisionally into third place with a 2-1 win in Mallorca.
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