Real Madrid thrash Real Sociedad 4-1 to move top of La Liga

Vinicius Jr strikes twice ⁠from ⁠the penalty spot as Madrid move provisionally above Barcelona, who play Girona on Monday.

Vinicius Junior scored two penalties as Real Madrid moved top of La Liga with a 4-1 win over Real Sociedad, despite missing superstar Kylian Mbappe.

Mbappe watched from the substitutes’ bench on Saturday after missing some team training sessions during the week with discomfort in his left knee.

Madrid coach Alvaro Arbeloa said on Friday that he was able to play, but evidently, he did not want to rush his star goal-scorer.

Mbappe and Jude Bellingham, out with a hamstring injury, watched as Madrid produced an assured team performance to end the visitors’ 11-game unbeaten run across all competitions, and move two points clear of Barcelona before the defending champions visit Girona on Monday.

Perhaps Tuesday’s team dinner at a fancy restaurant paid for by Mbappe and Vinicius helped focus the players before facing Benfica in the Champions League playoffs next week.

Gonzalo Garcia opened the scoring with a slight touch to Trent Alexander-Arnold’s cross in the fifth minute. However, it was to be a largely frustrating game for the young attacker, who failed to make more of other good opportunities.

Dean Huijsen conceded a penalty for bringing down Yangel Herrera, and Mikel Oyarzabal duly equalised from the spot with a hard, high, centrally-placed shot in the 21st.

Referee Francisco Jose Hernandez Maeso awarded another penalty at the other end four minutes later, when Jon Aramburu caught Vinicius’s ankle, bringing him down. The Brazilian dusted himself off to score from the spot in the 25th minute.

Madrid captain Fede Valverde gratefully scored the third in the 31st after being left too much space at the edge of the penalty box. It was Valverde’s first goal of the season.

Garcia should have scored again before the break, when Valverde set him up for what looked like a simple tap-in, but Vinicius made it 4-1 with his second spot kick after the break, awarded after Aramburu was again penalised for bringing him down.

Dani Carvajal made his long-awaited return around the hour mark, when he replaced Alexander-Arnold for his first league appearance since Madrid’s 2-1 loss to Barcelona in October.

Vinicius thought he had scored a hat-trick when he headed in a free kick in the 90th minute, only for it to be ruled out for offside.

Elsewhere in La Liga on Saturday, Borja Iglesias scored in stoppage time, after having another seemingly good goal ruled out through VAR, to salvage a 2-2 draw for Celta Vigo at Espanyol.

A rueful Iglesias shook his head and smiled after having a 77th-minute goal disallowed when a long check determined there had been an offside infringement.

His frustrations grew when Ramon Terrats pulled the ball back for fellow substitute Tyrhys Dolan to score what he thought was the winner for Espanyol in the 86th minute.

But Iglesias equalised in the third minute of stoppage time when Pablo Duran set him up with his heel after a good run from Sergio Carreira.

Espanyol remained sixth, and Celta a point behind in seventh.

Also on Saturday, Getafe held on to upset visiting Villarreal 2-1, and the 10-man Sevilla drew with Alaves 1-1 in a duel between two strugglers.