Mbappe on target as Real Madrid survive late Alaves scare in 3-2 win

Real Madrid survived a late fightback from Deportivo Alaves to pick up a narrow win at the Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday night.

Alaves were dormant for 85 minutes until a quick-fire double in the 85th and 87th minutes from Carlos Benavidez and Kike Garcia threatened to steal precious points from Carlo Ancelotti’s side.

Madrid were strolling to a comfortable 3-0 win until that point. A goal from Lucas Vasquez within a minute of the opening whistle kickstarted a dominant display, capped with goals from Kylian Mbappe and Rodrygo either side of half-time.

Los Blancos ultimately hung on through Alaves’ last-minute surge, picking up their fifth La Liga win of the season and moving to within a point of Barcelona ahead of a crucial derby with Atletico Madrid on Sunday.

It was almost a perfect evening for Real. Three goals and nothing substantial to worry about on the defensive end would have been the ideal way to lead into the derby at the end of the week. The players knew that too: they were all smiles for most of the clash – cool, calm, and collected.

Alaves were never likely to threaten considering their last trip to the Bernabeu ended in a 5-0 loss. Once Vasquez fired in within the opening minute, latching onto a pass across goal from Vinicius Jr, Real could essentially relax.

They made sure their early goal was the catalyst for a night of control, an evening of serene and slow-paced dominance, punctuated by flashes of brilliance from the likes of Vinicius and Bellingham. The latter linked up superbly with Mbappe throughout the night.

The Anglo-French pair combined twice for an Mbappe goal, the first being called back for offside. But the second saw the Frenchman make a cross-chop pass to Bellingham, who held the ball for a moment before perfectly sliding it into the box for his striker to slot home.

Goal three, much like the first, came soon after the opening whistle for the second half. Perhaps hoping to put some pressure on a relaxing Real side, Alaves’ defensive line stepped up high and Rodrygo punished them for it. The Brazillian had mountains of space to take on Carlos Protesoni and Moussa Diarra and fended them both off before firing the ball through the legs of goalkeeper Antonio Sivera.

But Alaves had clearly saved all their fight for the final moments, and Benavidez and Garcia capitalised on some poor defending to get their side back in the contest and initiate a tense six minutes of added time in Madrid.

Real held on in the end, but what should have been a simple win was marred by multiple lapses in concentration and dissension between the players and the officials. That does not bode well with Atletico on the horizon.

Talking Point – Mbappe and Bellingham make a scary combination

Undoubtedly the highlight of what is now a hard win to quantify, but the pair produced several overlapping moments of skill that opened up Alaves.

The conversation of how Ancelotti can fit in the talents of Mbappe, Bellingham, Vinicius, Rodrygo and now Endrick is warranted but tonight suggested Mbappe and Bellingham are complimenting each other superbly well.

Player of the Match – Kylian Mbappe

The Frenchman netted his fifth league goal of the season and had another disallowed. He’s starting to find his stride after a slow start to the season for him and Madrid.

Player Ratings

Real Madrid: Courtois 6, Vasquez 7. Rudiger 7, Militao 7, Tchouameni 7, Bellingham 8, Valverde 7, Rodrygo 8, Vinicius Jr 7, Mbappe 8.

Subs: Vallejo 6, Modric 6, Endrick 7, Guler 6, Garcia 6.

Deportivo Alaves: Sivera 5, Mourino 5, Novoa , Diarra 5, Sachez 5, Conechny 6, Romero 5, Benavidez 7, Blanco 5, Villalibre 7,

Subs: Pica 6, Guridi 6, Rebbach 6, Guevara 6, Garcia 7.

Match Highlights

1’ GOAL! REAL MADRID (VASQUEZ) 1-0 DEPORTIVO ALAVES – WOW! 57 seconds in. Vini jr has his first touch of the game, powers to the byline and slips a ball inside to Lucas Vasquez and the captain has Los Blancos up 1-0 already.

22’ GOAL DISALLOWED (MBAPPE) – Gorgeous interplay from Bellingham who slots Mbappe through on goal and the Frenchman slots it with ease only to be called back for offside.

40’ GOAL! REAL MADRID (MBAPPE) 2-0 DEPORTIVO ALAVES – Mbappe makes a cross-chop pass to Bellingham and the Englishman holds it for a second before sliding it into the box for the Frenchman and he slots it home.

48’ GOAL! REAL MADRID (RODRYGO) 3-0 DEPORTIVO ALAVES – Just like the first half! Alaves step up high to try and put some pressure on and Rodrygo has mountains of space to take on Protesoni and Diarra and he fires the ball through the legs of Sivera.

85′ GOAL! DEPORTIVO ALAVES (PROTESONI) 1-3 REAL MADRID – A wayward pass from Vasquez and Protesoni plays a one-two and he fires a beautiful shot from outside the box that catches out Courtois. It puts a damper on Real’s win, who have conceded in three straight games now.

87′ GOAL! DEPORTIVO ALAVES (GARCIA) 2-3 REAL MADRID – A quick-fire double and Kike Garcia scores with a left footed shot from the left of the box after a beautiful lifted chip into the box.

Key Stat

4 – Real picked up four yellow cards which while not a huge number, three of them came from dissent to the referee. Something that could come back to bite them down the road.