Real Madrid return to La Liga summit with victory over Villarreal

Vinicius Junior scored twice as Real Madrid bounced back from their humiliating thrashing by neighbours Atletico Madrid last weekend by beating Villarreal 3-1 on Saturday to go top of La Liga.

After a frustrating first half which saw the Real players whistled off the pitch at the break, it took Vinicius just 90 seconds to break the deadlock at the start of the second period.

The Brazilian forward collected a flick-on from Kylian Mbappe, cut inside from the left flank and hit a shot that took a significant deflection off Santi Comesana and flew past Villarreal goalkeeper Arnau Tenas at the near post.

Vinicius was Real’s main threat and in the 69th minute he squeezed a penalty under the dive of Tenas after being bundled over in the box by Rafa Marin.

But Villarreal posed a threat on the break all evening and, seconds after England midfielder Jude Bellingham – who started on the bench – was denied one on one by Tenas, Georgia striker Georges Mikautadze halved the deficit with a vicious strike past Thibaut Courtois into the bottom corner.

Villareal full-back Santiago Mourino was shown a second yellow card for pulling back Vinicius, and three minutes later Mbappe made the victory safe for Real by converting Brahim Diaz’s selfless cut-back.

The sight of Mbappe limping off the pitch moments later with what appeared to be a foot injury took a little shine off the win.

Real have 21 points after eight games, two points more than Barcelona who play Sevilla on Sunday (15:15 BST). Villarreal remain third with 16 points.