Kylian Mbappe put his early LaLiga struggles behind him on Sunday, firing home a brace to lead Real Madrid to a 2-0 victory over Real Betis.
Although the Frenchman scored his first goal for Los Blancos during the club’s UEFA Super Cup win over Atalanta, things hadn’t gone to plan domestically so far.
With no goals to his name, and Real Madrid winning just one of their opening three matches, the pressure was on heading into Sunday’s match at the Bernabeu.
It increased after a first half in which Madrid controlled proceedings, but couldn’t break down Manuel Pellegrini’s side.
Just after the restart it was Vinicius who came close to opening the scoring, only for his effort to come back off the post. Mbappe even managed to fire the rebound over the bar despite a gaping net, though his blushes were spared given the offside flag was raised.
Mbappe breaks through
In the end the breakthrough finally came for Madrid in the 67th minute courtesy of Mbappe. The Frenchman collected a great pass from Federico Valverde, kept his head with no defenders around him, and slotted home past Rui Silva to the delight of the home fans.
He added a second eight minutes later, this time from the penalty spot. Vinicius was taken down in the penalty area, and after referee Javier Alberola initially waved for play to continue, he was then called over by VAR to look things over.
He then pointed to the spot, with Mbappe confidently firing home to give Real the advantage. It proved enough in the end, with the three points vaulting Madrid into second place on eight points, four back of rivals Barcelona.