Real Madrid rediscovered their winning touch in La Liga on Saturday evening, thrashing Rayo Vallecano 4-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu in the fifth round of fixtures. The result lifted them level on 12 points with Barcelona at the summit, and Kylian Mbappe stole the show with two goals and an assist.
Los Blancos went into the game desperate to make up for their defeat to Real Betis in the previous round and to keep the heat on Barcelona, having edged past Inter Milan in midweek despite an unconvincing display.
Superiority told early. Mbappe opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the 14th minute after Carreras was hauled down inside the box, and Carreras himself doubled the lead three minutes later, latching onto a clever pass from the Frenchman.
The hosts kept up the pressure until Jude Bellingham made it three in the 35th minute, heading home a cross from Vinicius Junior, who turned in an influential performance of his own. Real Madrid went in at the break three goals to the good.
After the interval, the standard dropped noticeably. Rayo Vallecano pounced on the confusion in the home ranks, Camello pulling one back in the 51st minute after Vinicius Junior gifted possession away with a poor back pass.
Real Madrid rode out a nervy final half an hour as Rayo pushed for a way back into the contest. Thibaut Courtois came to the rescue, his brilliance keeping the Whites in front, before Mbappe put the game to bed in the first minute of stoppage time with a well-taken finish from a tight angle.
Three precious points, then, and Real Madrid are back on the winning track, level with Barcelona at the top of La Liga.