Soccer Football - LaLiga - Villarreal v Real Madrid - Estadio de la Ceramica, Villarreal, Spain - March 15, 2025 Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe in action with Villarreal's Pape Gueye and Santi Comesana REUTERS/Pablo Morano
VILLARREAL, Spain (Reuters) - Kylian Mbappe scored twice to help Real Madrid fight back to beat Villarreal 2-1 on Saturday and move provisionally top of the LaLiga standings.
The hosts opened the scoring in the seventh minute when Alex Baena's corner was deflected by Aurelien Tchouameni, allowing Juan Foyth to score from close range.
Real Madrid levelled 10 minutes later when Mbappe pounced on Brahim Diaz's blocked shot and the ball landed at his feet for a close-range finish.
Six minutes later, the French international scored his 20th league goal of the season, latching on to Lucas Vazquez's through ball and slotting home.
Mbappe had a chance to complete his hat-trick in the second half when he latched onto Vinicius Jr's through ball, but the offside flag was raised.
"It's the last time we'll play a game with less than 72 hours' rest," said coach Carlo Ancelotti, referring to Wednesday's gruelling Champions League shootout win over city rivals Atletico Madrid.
Real top the table on 60 points, three clear of second-placed Barcelona, who have a game in hand after their match with Osasuna was postponed last week, and face third-placed Atletico on Sunday.
(Reporting by Angelica Medina in Mexico City, editing by Ed Osmond)
