Kylian Mbappe moved on from a tumultuous week by scoring a penalty to help Real Madrid win 3-0 at Racing Santander on Sunday.
The French forward narrowly lost out on the Ballon d’Or to Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane on Monday and then had to apologise after a social media storm following a video in which he joked about former Chinese leader Mao Zedong.
Real Madrid’s match, along with other Spanish fixtures this weekend, was not broadcast by Chinese state television because of the fallout.
Jude Bellingham and Yan Diomande were also on target to keep third-place Madrid within three points of leaders Barcelona, who thrashed Alaves 6-1 on Saturday.
Jose Mourinho’s side have won six straight games across all competitions and are a point behind city rivals Atletico Madrid, who beat Levante 2-0.
“In the first half we were very strong; we came out to play well,” Mourinho told reporters.
“The team is growing and playing well; I think we should have scored even more goals with the chances we had.”
Mbappe won a soft penalty as he went down under little pressure from Matteo Prati, smashing it home to put Madrid ahead at the Sardinero stadium in the 11th minute.
It was the 27-year-old’s 12th league goal of the season, trailing only Barcelona’s Raphinha with 15 in the scoring charts.
Madrid had control of the game, and a fine pass from Arda Guler sent Bellingham through on goal for the second.
The England international knocked the ball past the goalkeeper and rolled home for his 50th goal since joining Madrid in 2023.
Guler spun a good opportunity for the third after being set up by Mbappe, before Madrid’s record-signing Diomande lashed home from the edge of the box.
The hosts started the second half well, pushing Madrid back, much to the chagrin of Mourinho, who yelled at his players.
Madrid regained their control and racked up several more chances, with Mbappe hitting the post and Bellingham denied by Racing goalkeeper Julen Agirrezabala.
Racing won a penalty after Madrid’s Aurelien Tchouameni handled in the box, but the award was cancelled after a VAR review.
Bellingham had a second goal ruled out in stoppage time after he strayed offside before finding the net, and Endrick bent an effort narrowly wide from distance.
Hosts Racing, 16th, back in La Liga for the first time in 14 seasons, fell to their first home defeat of the campaign.
Earlier, Sevilla, sixth, suffered a 3-1 loss at Getafe, who moved into mid-table.
“(Madrid’s penalty award) annoys me,” Racing coach Jose Alberto told DAZN.
“Evidently we came across a great Madrid, who put us under a lot of pressure in the first half hour and were much better than us, but what conditions? Everything was the first goal and the penalty.”
Later, on Sunday, Athletic Bilbao host Real Sociedad in a Basque derby, and Valencia visit Elche.
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