As La Liga’s title race intensifies, Actual Madrid as soon as once more proved their resilience, securing a 3-2 comeback win towards Leganes on the Santiago Bernabeu. The victory sees Los Blancos draw stage with Barcelona on factors, establishing an exciting finale to the season. However past the outcome, this match marked a major second in Kylian Mbappe’s profession, as he scored his first-ever direct free-kick purpose, etching his title alongside a few of the best goalscorers in soccer historical past.
Leganes, a aspect battling relegation, arrived on the Bernabeu with little expectation however surprised the house crowd by taking the lead earlier than halftime. Los Blancos began brightly, with Luka Modric and Jude Bellingham testing Leganes’ goalkeeper Marko Dmitrovic, nevertheless it was Mbappe who broke the impasse within the thirty second minute.
After Arda Guler was fouled within the field, the French ahead stepped as much as take the penalty. As an alternative of a standard strike, he cheekily chipped the ball down the center, sending the goalkeeper the fallacious method—a contact of sophistication that underlined his confidence.
Nevertheless, the lead was short-lived. Simply a minute later, Leganes equalized by Diego García, and earlier than halftime, Dani Raba put the guests forward, leaving Carlo Ancelotti’s aspect trailing 2-1. Los Blancos, unbeaten at house in La Liga since October, wanted a response. Inside two minutes of the second half, Bellingham fired in an equalizer, capitalizing on a rebound after Brahim Díaz’s shot was deflected onto the crossbar.
Ancelotti then made key modifications, bringing on Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo Goes, and Fede Valverde, seeking to flip the sport round. Leganes held agency, however because the match entered its ultimate quarter-hour, Madrid discovered their second.
Mbappe’s historic free-kick purpose
Within the 76th minute, the house aspect received a free kick simply outdoors the field. Fran García laid the ball off for Mbappe, who curled a shocking shot across the wall and into the underside nook. It was a landmark purpose—the primary time the French celebrity had ever scored straight from a free kick in his profession.
His celebration confirmed simply how a lot it meant to him, and for Madrid, it was the purpose that secured three very important factors within the title race.
Matching spectacular data: Cristiano Ronaldo and Erling Haaland
Past its significance within the match, Mbappe’s purpose noticed him enter elite firm. With 33 targets in his debut season at Actual Madrid, he now matches Cristiano Ronaldo’s tally from the Portuguese star’s first season on the membership in 2009-10. Solely Ivan Zamorano now stands forward of him in that regard.
In the meantime, the Frenchman’s prolific scoring run additionally sees him stage with Manchester Metropolis’s Erling Haaland. In accordance with StatMuse FC on X (previously Twitter), the 2 strikers have 21 league targets every this season, and 48 league targets every because the begin of final season
League targets this season
21 — Kylian Mbappé
21 — Erling Haaland
League targets since begin of final season
48 — Kylian Mbappé
48 — Erling Haaland
The battle between Mbappe and Haaland is shaping as much as outline soccer’s subsequent nice rivalry.
