Real Madrid 4-1 Real Mallorca: Los Blancos leapfrog Barcelona to move top of Liga with hard-fought win

Real Madrid leapfrogged Barcelona back to the top of the La Liga table with a hard-fought 4-1 victory over Real Mallorca at the Santiago Bernabeu. Goals from Federico Valverde, Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo and Antonio Rudiger were enough to give Carlo Ancelotti’s side the three points, in a game where their opposition defended resolutely, and shell-shocked the hosts 10 minutes before the interval as Vedat Muriqi’s unmarked header from a Kang In Lee free-kick put Mallorca into an unlikely ascendency.

Ad Valverde unleashed a wonderful solo goal to equalise for the Madridistas; driving from inside his own half and curling a spectacular left-footed curler beyond the hapless reach of Rajkovic to draw the defending champions level in an evenly matched tactical battle. LigaBenzema expected to be out for a month with a quad injury07/09/2022 AT 15:23 The hosts shuffled their pack after a dominant 3-0 win over Celtic in the Champions League in midweek, and Eden Hazard was afforded his first start since January after an excellent display off the bench in Glasgow.

Muriqi tested Thibaut Courtois in the home goal in the early exchanges as Mallorca flew out of the blocks, with the Kosovan target man flicking a floated ball over the head of Antonio Rudiger and flashing a shot at the Belgian goalkeeper, but the home shot-stopper was alert in averting the danger. Toni Kroos was instrumental as he orchestrated the game’s tempo in a deeper-lying midfield role, and the German went close on 14 minutes as he curled an effort from outside the area just wide of the far post.