REAL MADRID reclaimed top spot from Barcelona in style as they pummelled Mallorca 4-1 at the Bernabeu – but they had to come from behind.
Federico Valverde’s wonder strike cancelled out Vedat Muriqi’s 35th minute opener.
Before Brazilian duo Vincius Jr and Rodrygo’s coolly dispatched efforts gave Los Blancos a two goal advantage.
And then Antonio Ruidger rounded off the scoring by volleying home his first goal in a Madrid shirt.
- RESULT: Madrid 4-1 Mallorca
- Live stream: premiersports.com
- TV channel: Premier Sports 1
- Real Madrid XI: Courtois; Vazquez, Alaba, Rudiger, Mendy; Kroos, Valverde, Ceballos; Vinicius, Rodrygo, Hazard
- Mallorca XI: Rajkovic; Maffeo, Valjent, Raillo, Nastasic, Costa; Galarreta, Battaglia, Rodriguez; Kang-in, Muriqi
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That’s all from Madrid
Real Madrid picked up a stunning 4-1 victory over Mallorca at the Santiago Bernabeu.
The visitors shocked Real on 35 minutes when a wonderful free-kick by Lee Kang-in from the right found Vedat Muriqi on the far post from where he beat Thibaut Courtois with a header.
But Los Blancos responded in the third minute of stoppage time when Federico Valverde put together a magnificent run that resulted in a fantastic curling effort from the edge of the box.
The hosts turned the game around after 72 minutes when Rodrygo produced scintillating run of his own inside the box and set Vinicius Junior up to his left.
Rodrygo then scored a marvellous goal of his own as he dribbled past everyone down the right before beating Predrag Rajkovic from a tight angle in the 89th minute.
And former Chelsea star Antonio Rudiger put the cherry on top in the third minute of stoppage time when he picked up a free-kick by Toni Kross and volleyed the ball past Rajkovic from a tight angle to register his first Real goal.
That’s all from us in Madrid, have a great day!!!
Credit: GETTY Carlo Ancelotti reacts
Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti praised his players after an impressive win over Mallorca.
Ancelotti told Movistar: “The problems have been foreseeable. They defended very well, they scored from set pieces, it took us a while to get into the game but we kept a cool head. We haven’t played fantastically, much better in the second half.
“I’ll take both of them [Eden Hazard and Rodrygo as false nines]. They have given something different. With Hazard we have had a position. [Federico] Valverde has given us depth and then Rodrygo”.
“He’s [Valverde] a great player, he plays midfielder, winger. He is closer to the goal and scores more, he has scored two and will score more. He is a fantastic athlete and a great player”
Credit: GETTY Javier Aguirre reacts
Mallorca manager Javier Aguirre suggested his team payed for all the missed opportunities before Vinicius Junior’s goal.
Aguirre told Movistar: “They have scored two spectacular goals, the result is fair. We sin by passivity.
“It would have been nice, we had it but at these levels you can’t forgive. You can have two or three and you cannot forgive. Here we are, it’s the same league, but we fight at our level.
“We have to believe in ourselves more. When we dedicate ourselves to playing football, we can compete.
“We can fight every match, we give it our all, there is faith, we need to believe more in our possibilities”
Credit: GETTY
Rodrygo reacts
Real Madrid star Rodrygo stood out against Mallorca with a goal as well as assist and opened up on his stunning display.
The forward told Movistar: “We are very happy. A very difficult match in the first half. His [Vedat Muriqi] goal complicated us, then Valverde’s great goal and the second half, we were able to dominate better.
“I started on the right but then the coach told me to go further inside because I had more space. I’m happy with the assistance and the goal, I hope to continue like this.
“All of us who leave Santos have that attitude, that ability to face, fight, train to be better…”
Credit: GETTY Updated LaLiga table
Real Madrid have returned to the top of LaLiga table after winning all of their five league matches.
Real are two points ahead of rivals Barcelona, who are also undefeated but drew one of their five games.
Mallorca remain 13th after losing their second match out a total of five, of which they have won only one.
More below:
Real Madrid vs Mallorca stats
Real Madrid dominated 69 per cent of possession throughout the entire match.
Real registered a total of 22 shots but only seven were on target.
Mallorca, on the other hand, produced five shots, two of which were on target.
The Pirates committed 15 fouls, compared to Los Blancos’ seven in a heated game.
Real are still without a clean sheet all season after five matches
FT: Real Madrid 4-1 Mallorca
Real Madrid picked up a dominant 4-1 victory over Mallorca at the Santiago Bernabeu.
The visitors stunned Real on 35 minutes when a wonderful free-kick by Lee Kang-in from the right found Vedat Muriqi on the far post from where he beat Thibaut Courtois with a header.
But Los Blancos responded in the third minute of stoppage time in the first half when Federico Valverde put together a magnificent run that resulted in a fantastic curling effort from the edge of the box.
The hosts turned the game around after 72 minutes when Rodrygo put together a wonderful run of his own inside the box and set Vinicius Junior up to his left.
Rodrygo then scored a marvellous goal of his own as he dribbled past everyone down the right before beating Predrag Rajkovic from a tight angle on 89 minutes.
And ex-Chelsea star Antonio Rudiger put the cherry on top in the third minute of stoppage time when he picked up a free-kick by Toni Kross and volleyed the ball past Rajkovic from a tight angle to register his first Real goal
Credit: GETTY Credit: GETTY FT: Real Madrid 4-1 Mallorca
Peep!
That’s all in Madrid!!!
Real Madrid 4-1 Mallorca
90+3 A crisp free-kick from Kroos on the right finds Rudiger on the far post.
The ex-Chelsea star then volleys it past Rajkovic!
VAR is having a look for offside!
AND IT STANDS!
Real Madrid 4-1 Mallorca
90+3 Goal!
Rudiger scores his first ever Real goal!!!
Real Madrid 3-1 Mallorca
90+2 Vinicius has approached Mallorca boss Aguirre again to protest about his players’ fouls.
Kroos pulls his team-mate away and manager Ancelotti tells him to focus on the game!
Absolute scenes!
Real Madrid 3-1 Mallorca
90 Vinicius has scored in all of Real’s last five matches across all competitions.
But it’s someone else taking the Man of the Match award, the guy who set his goal up!
Credit: GETTY Real Madrid 3-1 Mallorca
89 What a fantastic goal by Rodrygo!
The Real star picks the ball up and dribbles past everyone before beating Rajkovic from a tight angle on the left
Real Madrid 3-1 Mallorca
89 Goal!
Real seal it with Rodrygo!!!
Real Madrid 2-1 Mallorca
87 Real star Vinicius just blocked a clearance by Valjent and he celebrated with a loud roar!
The forward is really living this game!
Real Madrid 2-1 Mallorca
85 Yellow card
And another yellow card for Mallorca, this time to Sanchez!
Real Madrid 2-1 Mallorca
85 Yellow card
Mallorca ace Valjent gets booked for a tug on Vinicius, who is constantly falling down.
Real boss Ancelotti is furious as he is telling Aguirre to stop his players from committing so many fouls.
We told you before the game no team in LaLiga has committed more fouls than Mallorca
Real Madrid 2-1 Mallorca
84 Fans are getting heated as Vinicius and Raillo clash on the pitch.
The Real star then asks for explanations from Mallorca manager Aguirre.
That doesn’t go down well with the visitos
Real Madrid 2-1 Mallorca
83 Tensions are boiling up as Mallorca are pushing for an equaliser.
The visitors are gaining a series of corner-kicks and the players are tussling with Real stars
Real Madrid 2-1 Mallorca
81 Yellow card
Real star Alaba gets booked for a tug with Grenier, it seemed like he got the ball first…
Real Madrid 2-1 Mallorca
80 Just 10 more minutes to go at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Real are moving the ball comfortably
Real Madrid 2-1 Mallorca
78 Substitution
Mallorca manager Aguirre throws in Prats and Lago who replace Muriqi and Lee for the last few minutes.
The visitors’ boss takes out both his attackers, quite a risk considering he is chasing an equaliser…
Real Madrid 2-1 Mallorca
77 And we have another cooling break at the Santiago Bernabeu.
And another chance for managers to give instructions as we approach ful-time
Real Madrid 2-1 Mallorca
75 Real have turned the game around after a rocky start.
Mallorca are trying to react as they are building slowly
Real Madrid 2-1 Mallorca
72 What a beautiful goal for Real Madrid!
Rodrygo gets the ball in midfield and makes an exquisite run all the way to the box.
That is where he passes to his fellow Brazilian Vinicius to his left and the forward beats Rajkovic with ease
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
