Kylian Mbappe scored a beautiful goal and converted a penalty kick to help Real Madrid beat Sevilla 4-1 despite the absence of the suspended Vinicius Junior in the Spanish League on Sunday.
Madrid moved to third place behind Atletico Madrid and leader Barcelona. Diego Gomez scored with a shot from the halfway line in Brighton’s 5-0 win over Crystal Palace, and Arsenal edged Nottingham Forest in the Premier League. Freiburg wasted a chance to regain first place in the Bundesliga with its first loss of the season – a 2-1 defeat at Bayer Leverkusen – and Monaco lost 1-0 at Lorient to lose its status as the only unbeaten team in the French league. Mbappe controlled the ball while turning his body and then used a quick touch to clear a defender before going around Sevilla goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos to score Madrid’s second goal in the 37th minute at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. The France superstar then converted a 63rd-minute penalty.
Arda Guler had given Madrid the lead in the 30th with a shot into the top corner. Yan Diomande sealed the victory in the 82nd after Manu Bueno had scored for sixth-place Sevilla. Guler’s goal came minutes after an incident involving Sevilla’s Peque. It resulted in no red card for an apparent elbowing by the Madrid midfielder.
The victory moved Madrid one point behind Atletico and six points behind Barcelona, which won 5-2 at Real Betis on Saturday. Vinicius was serving the first of his four-game suspension for pulling the hair of an opponent and aggressively confronting the referee. Gomez’s sensational strike came after the Paraguay international collected the ball near the halfway line, advanced just inside Palace’s half and launched a 50-meter shot over stranded goalkeeper Walter Benitez in the seventh minute.
AC Milan beat Atalanta 3-2 for its second win in three matches in all competitions, moving to fourth in Serie A. The hosts opened a three-goal lead by the 57th minute and held on for the victory. Agencies