Mbappe on target as Real cruise to Leganes win

LEGANES: Kylian Mbappe ended his goal drought with a close-range strike and midfielder Jude Bellingham scored a header as Real Madrid thrashed Leganes 3-0 on Sunday.

With a game in hand, Real are second in the standings on 30 points, four behind Barcelona.

Mbappe latched on to Vinicius Jr’s through ball and found the net after 10 minutes, but his celebration was short-lived as the goal was ruled out for offside.

Mbappe was goalless in his last four games in all competitions, his last goal coming in a win over Celta Vigo last month.

However, the former Paris St Germain striker netted his seventh league goal of the campaign after combining again with Vinicius to give Real the lead two minutes before the break following a Leganes defensive error that Bellingham capitalised on.

“We switched the position of the strikers a bit, with Mbappe on the outside and he did well,” said coach Carlo Ancelotti after the match.

Real enjoyed most of the possession in the second half, giving goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, back in the squad after a muscle injury, little to do.

Uruguayan midfielder Federico Valverde scored the second from a free kick with an unstoppable long-range effort after Bellingham had been fouled in the 66th minute.

The England international put the icing on the cake in the 85th minute when he headed home after the ball bounced off the crossbar.

“We were very comfortable in the first half, playing the game we wanted to, but (to concede) after a mistake... hurts more, it got away from us because of our errors,” admitted Leganes defender Sergio Gonzalez. “The team gave everything, and with the smallest opportunities, they punished us.”

VINICIUS OUT OF LIVERPOOL CLASH

Real visit Premier League and Champions League leaders Liverpool on Wednesday but will be without Vinicius, who sustained a leg muscle injury in the win at Leganes.

Spanish media reported the Brazilian winger is expected to miss almost a month, which would also keep him out of the Champions League visit to Atalanta on December 10, as well as Wednesday’s match at Anfield.

Champions League holders Real have started their European campaign in shaky form, with two defeats in their opening four matches.

They lost 1-0 at Lille and 3-1 at home against AC Milan in their last outing in the competition, leaving them 18th in the expanded group table and could be in trouble with a bad result at Anfield.

Published in Dawn, November 26th, 2024

from The Dawn News - Home https://ift.tt/OK26nYZ

Comments

Ministers rubbish notion that proposed retirement age extension to favour ‘one particular institution’

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on Tuesday rubbished the notion that a proposed extension in the retirement age was to favour “one particular institution”, adding that the move would be implemented across the board if approved. The rebuttal comes in the wake of media reports claiming that the government was mulling changes to the Constitution to fix the tenure of the chief justice . Currently, judges of the Supreme Court, including the chief justice, retire after attaining the age of superannuation, i.e. 65 years, as stipulated in Article 179 of the Constitution. While giving his opinion recently on the reports of the constitutional amendment, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar had said he “will not vehemently turn down the proposals related to the tenure of the chief justice”. Addressing the issue during a press conference in Islamabad today along since Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and the law minister, Attaullah said the extension in the retirement age was “a proposal to a...

The Republican primary race for president in 2024

The Republican primary race for president in 2024 is already shaping up to be a competitive one. There are a number of high-profile candidates who have already announced their intention to run, and more are expected to join the field in the coming months. The frontrunner for the nomination is former President Donald Trump. Trump has been teasing a 2024 run for months, and he has a large and loyal following among Republican voters. However, he is also a polarizing figure, and his candidacy could alienate some moderate Republicans. Another potential contender for the nomination is Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. DeSantis has been praised by many conservatives for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and his opposition to vaccine mandates. He is also seen as a rising star in the Republican Party. Other potential candidates include former Vice President Mike Pence, former Ambassador Nikki Haley, and Senator Tim Scott. Pence is a more traditional Republican who could appeal to moderate vote...

In pictures: Grief in Gaza and the loss of a child

In the photo, the woman cradles a child in her arms, balanced on her knee. It is an image that resonates, as ancient as human history. But in a grim inversion of the familiar, we see that the child she holds close is a corpse, wrapped in a shroud. It is a quiet moment of intense grief. The woman wears a headscarf and her head is bowed. We cannot see who she is nor can we learn anything about the child — not even if it is a boy or girl. Palestinian woman Inas Abu Maamar, 36, embraces the body of her 5-year-old niece Saly, who was killed in an Israeli strike, at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, October 17, 2023. The child is one of many who have lost their lives on both sides in the Israel-Hamas war. Most have names we will never know, whose deaths will spark a lifetime of grief for family members we will never meet. In the 21st century, an average of almost 20 children a day have been killed or maimed in wars around the world, according to Unicef. Reuter...

Infinity Social Updates

Search This Blog