Vinicius Jr Brace Fires Real Madrid Past Villarreal as Mbappé Suffers Injury Scar

Real Madrid returned to the top of La Liga with a 3–1 victory over Villarreal at the Santiago Bernabéu on Saturday night, as Vinicius Junior scored twice and Kylian Mbappé limped off late with an ankle injury.

The win moved Madrid two points clear of rivals Barcelona, who face Sevilla on Sunday, while Villarreal sit third on 16 points.

Madrid dominated much of the contest but struggled to convert early pressure. Aurelien Tchouameni headed narrowly wide before Mbappé set up youngster Franco Mastantuono, whose shot was deflected over by Renato Veiga.

At the other end, Villarreal nearly struck first through Tani Oluwaseyi, but Thibaut Courtois denied him with a superb save.

The breakthrough came shortly after the interval when Vinicius drove in from the left and fired a low shot that deflected off Santi Comesaña to beat goalkeeper Arnau Tenas.

The Brazilian doubled Madrid’s lead in the 69th minute, converting a penalty he had won after being brought down by Rafa Marín.

Villarreal responded swiftly, with Georges Mikautadze pulling one back from the edge of the area. However, their hopes of a comeback faded when Santiago Mourino was shown a second yellow card for a foul on Vinicius, reducing the visitors to 10 men.

Madrid sealed the victory in the 80th minute as Brahim Díaz broke down the right and squared for Mbappé to tap home his seventh goal of the season. Moments later, the French star went down clutching his ankle and was substituted by Rodrygo, sparking concerns ahead of Madrid’s upcoming Champions League clash.

Madrid manager Xabi Alonso praised his side’s resilience but admitted Mbappé’s injury was worrying. “We’ll assess him in the coming days,” he told reporters. “He felt some pain in the ankle, but we hope it’s nothing serious.”

The result extends Madrid’s unbeaten run to eight league games, strengthening their early title push under Alonso.