Real Madrid reclaimed top spot in LaLiga after rallying from behind to defeat Real Mallorca 4-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday afternoon.
LaLiga
Result: Real Madrid 4-1 Real Mallorca
Date: 11 September 2022
Venue: Santiago Bernabeu
Eden Hazard made his first start of the season in place of Karim Benzema, who was injured in Wednesday's win over Celtic in the UEFA Champions League while Toni Kroos and Dani Ceballos were also recalled.
Mallorca nearly silenced the Bernabeu after just two minutes when Pablo Maffeo's long pass found Vedat Muriqi, who skipped past Ferland Mendy before being denied by a fine save from Thibaut Courtois.
Carlo Ancelotti's charges dominated for most of the first half but they struggled to carve out chances without a recognised striker on the pitch.
Real had to wait until the 27th minute for their first opening as Federico Valverde got on the end of Luka Modric's pass before teeing up Rodrygo, whose strike was turned away by goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic.
The visitors would go on to grab the opening seven minutes later when Muriqi nodded home Kang-In Lee's free-kick at the far post for his third goal of the season.
Los Blancos did manage to restore parity on the stroke of halftime as Valverde took the ball from his own half, skipped past a couple challenges and sent a superb strike into the top corner from 20 yards out.
The hosts looked to carry that momentum heading into the second half, but Mallorca were quite stubborn after the interval and they nearly regained the lead on 65 minutes when Antonio Sanchez somehow fired wide from point-blank range.
Mallorca were made to rue that miss as Real took the lead in the 72nd minute, with Vinicius Junior getting his fourth league goal with a neat left-footed strike after being teed up by countryman Rodrygo.
Rodrygo went on to grab a third goal with two minutes left on the clock after eliminating two defenders before rifling the ball into the far corner.
Antonio Rudiger rounded off the scoring for Ancelotti's men in second-half stoppage time after nodding home a free-kick from Toni Kroos, as the champions returned to the summit.
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