Madrid beat Rayo with goals from Mbappé and Vini Jr.

Real Madrid are not giving up anything in the fight for LaLiga and against Rayo at the Bernabéu, they picked up three more points to go level on points with Barcelona and overtake Atlético, who are a point further back. The win was forged in a great first half, in which Mbappé and Vini Jr. scored. Pedro Díaz reduced the deficit in first half added time and the score remained unchanged after the break despite the chances Ancelotti's side created.

Our team came out in a dominant fashion and with Vini Jr. front and centre, creating danger every time he touched the ball. After just two minutes, the Brazilian appealed for a penalty for a trample by Lejeune inside the area, which neither the referee nor the VAR awarded. Twelve minutes later, he came close to scoring with a shot from the edge of the area, but a combination of first Batalla's great save and then the post kept the ball out of the net. The first goal of the game came from his boots with a through ball to Mbappé on the half-hour mark. The Frenchman did the rest. He cut inside Lejeune inside the box and took advantage of the visiting defender’s block to finish with a powerful shot into the far corner.

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Real Madrid had already taken the lead when four minutes later, Vini Jr. produced another inspired moment. The Brazilian brought Lejeune out of the box to dribble past him, before driving back into the box and stringing together various stepovers to face up Ratiu. This act created the space to slot a precise near post shot past Batalla. It was a fanastic goal and it could have been 3-0 from the next attack, but the goalkeeper was more accurate than Mbappé in the one-on-one. And from a possible 3-0 lead, it changed to 2-1 when Pedro Diaz's superb strike from just outside the area bounced off the crossbar and landed over the goal line.

Chances
Madrid continued to dominate after the break and nearly extended the lead again in the 54th minute. A superb long pass from Modrić to the unmarked Mbappé, who cut inside the area but his shot missed the target by inches. As the minutes ticked by, Real Madrid were comfortable in defense and continued creating chances. Vini Jr.’s came close in the 75th minute with a chance from inside the area from Modrić's left-footed cross from the right flank, but it went just wide. For the remaining minutes, Ancelotti's men were able to hold on to their advantage to take three well-deserved points.