Vinicius Junior struck twice as Real Madrid recovered from last weekend’s humiliating defeat to city rivals Atletico Madrid, securing a 3-1 victory over Villarreal on Saturday to reclaim the top spot in La Li

Following a goalless and frustrating first half—during which Real’s players were met with whistles from their home fans—Vinicius needed just 90 seconds after the restart to open the scoring.

The Brazilian forward latched onto a flick from Kylian Mbappe, cut inside from the left, and unleashed a shot that took a heavy deflection off Santi Comesana before beating Villarreal goalkeeper Arnau Tenas at the near post.

Vinicius remained the central attacking threat and doubled his tally in the 69th minute, converting a penalty after being brought down in the box by Rafa Marin. His low effort slipped beneath Tenas’ dive to make it 2-0.

Villarreal continued to threaten on the counter, and moments after England’s Jude Bellingham—introduced from the bench—was denied in a one-on-one by Tenas, Georgia striker Georges Mikautadze fired a powerful effort past Thibaut Courtois to reduce the deficit.

The visitors’ hopes faded when full-back Santiago Mourino received a second yellow card for tugging back Vinicius. Three minutes later, Mbappe sealed Real’s win, tapping in from Brahim Diaz’s unselfish cut-back.

However, the French forward’s late limp off the pitch with what seemed to be a foot injury slightly dampened Real’s celebrations.

The victory lifted Real Madrid to 21 points from eight matches, two clear of Barcelona, who face Sevilla on Sunday. Villarreal stay third on 16 points.

Source: BBC

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