Real Madrid are now level on points with La Liga leaders FC Barcelona, after Kylian Mbappe and a stunning solo effort by Vinicius earned a nervy 2-1 win over visiting Rayo Vallecano at the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday.
The hosts dominated much of the first half, with Vinicius Junior hitting the post early on before France forward Kylian Mbappe opened the scoring in the 30th minute thanks to his incredible pace down the left flank.
Four minutes later, Carlo Ancelotti’s men made it two after Vinicius Jr found the back of the net off an assist from veteran midfielder Luka Modric.
It was Vinicius Jr’s 103rd goal for Real Madrid and is just a goal shy of Ronaldo Nazario’s total for Los Blancos. He needs just two more to become the Brazilian with the most goals in the club’s history.
The visitors pulled a goal back on the stroke of half-time, when Pedro Diaz netted from range to halve the deficit. The second half was devoid of much action though Los Blancos had to survive a flurry of onslaught from the visitors to hang on for all three points.
The win catapults Carlo Ancelotti’s side to second place on 57 points, level with leaders Barcelona who have a game in hand and one point above third-placed Atletico Madrid.
Rayo Vallecano on the other hand, are in seventh place on 36 points, though they are just two points behind sixth-placed Real Betis, who occupy the last European qualification spot.