Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe celebrates after scoring his side’s opening goal in the course of the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Rayo Vallecano on the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Sunday, March 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
MADRID — Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior scored goals in a five-minute span in the primary half and Real Madrid held on to beat Rayo Vallecano 2-1 on Sunday and move level on points with Barcelona at the highest of the Spanish league.
Mbappé scored within the thirtieth minute and Vinícius doubled the lead within the thirty fourth to present Madrid the identical 57 points as Barcelona, which had its match against Osasuna on Saturday postponed after the death of first-team doctor Carles Miñarro Garcia.
There was a moment of silence at Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in honor of the Barcelona doctor.
READ: Real Madrid needs flawless game against Atletico–Vinicius
Barcelona stays ahead of Madrid on the head-to-head tiebreaker.
“It’s a pleasant feeling since the goal was to get the three points,” Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said. “We might have been up 3-0 in the primary half however it ended 2-1. And within the second half we had opportunities to go up 3-1.”
Rayo hit back with a goal from Pedro Díaz in first-half stoppage time. It hasn’t won in 4 straight league matches, with three losses and a draw.
Ancelotti rotated his squad ahead of Wednesday’s match at Atletico Madrid within the round of 16 of the Champions League. Madrid won the primary match 2-1.
Ancelotti substituted each Mbappé and Rodrygo on Sunday.
“I had no problem replacing the forwards,” he said. “We would have liked to defend toward the top of the match.”
Atletico falters
Atletico wasted a likelihood to retake the league lead after conceding two late goals in a 2-1 loss at Getafe.
Diego Simeone’s team scored first with a penalty kick converted by Alexander Sorloth within the seventy fifth, however it couldn’t hold on to the lead after Ángel Correa was sent off with a straight red card for a tough foul.
READ: Barcelona inches closer to Madrid rivals in Spanish league
Midfielder Mauro Arambarri equalized for the hosts within the 88th and scored the winner two minutes into stoppage time.
Correa was initially shown a yellow card but video review modified it to a red card. The forward was seen insulting the referee after being sent off and later apologized on social media.
Atletico is one point behind Madrid and Barcelona.
Other results
Fourth-placed Athletic Bilbao was frustrated by a 1-1 home draw with Mallorca.
Antonio Raíllo put the visitors ahead within the 56th and Nico Williams equalized a few minutes later.
Sixth-placed Real Betis defeated 10-man Las Palmas 1-0 with a Sixty fifth-minute goal from Diego Llorente. The visitors played a person down after Dário Essugo was sent off within the 61st.
Sevilla won 1-0 at Real Sociedad due to a Forty sixth-minute goal by Chidera Ejuke in a match between midtable clubs.
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Sociedad hasn’t won in 4 matches in all competitions. Sevilla had lost two in a row.
