Vinicius Jr scored twice as Real Madrid wrapped up a 3-1 home victory over 10-man Villarreal on Saturday, but lost Kylian Mbappe to injury after the star forward limped off minutes before full-time.
Real now sit atop the La Liga standings on 21 points, two clear of Barcelona, who visit Sevilla on Sunday. Villarreal are third on 16 points.
The game was deadlocked in the early stages, but Real began to pile on the pressure as the clock ticked past 20 minutes.
Aurelien Tchouameni rose to meet a cross, but his header drifted just wide of the post.
Moments later, Mbappe pounced on a loose pass as the visitors tried to play out from the back. The Frenchman squared the ball to Franco Mastantuono, whose shot from point-blank range was deflected over the bar by defender Renato Veiga.
Villarreal also had chances in the first half as Tani Oluwaseyi broke into the box and found himself one-on-one with goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, who produced a sprawling save.
Xabi Alonso’s Real side eventually broke the deadlock just after the break when Vinicius picked up the ball near the left byline, drove into the box and squeezed a shot in from a tight angle that deflected off Villarreal midfielder Santi Comesana.
The Brazilian forward doubled his tally from the penalty spot in the 69th minute, having been brought down by Rafa Marin, with his effort just squeezing under goalkeeper Arnau Tenas.
However, four minutes later, Villarreal proved they had come to the Santiago Bernabeu to fight as Georges Mikautadze pulled one back with a low strike from the edge of the box.
The drama continued in the 77th minute, when Villarreal defender Santiago Mourino was sent off after a second booking for a foul on Vinicius, leaving the visitors on the back foot.
The impact was immediate as Mbappe scored Real’s third in the 80th minute after Brahim Diaz broke through and laid the ball back for the striker to complete the victory. A short time later, Mbappe went down with an ankle injury and was replaced by Rodrygo as Madrid saw the game out.
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