Real Madrid beat Valencia to go level with Barcelona
by AFP · The42LAST UPDATE | 5 hrs ago
KYLIAN MBAPPE SCORED for the seventh match running as Real Madrid pulled provisionally level on points with La Liga leaders Barcelona after a 3-0 win at 10-man Valencia on Saturday.
Reigning champions Barca visit Atletico Madrid, third, on Sunday, aiming to move back clear of the chasing pack.
Jose Mourinho’s Madrid largely dominated at Mestalla stadium as they secured an eighth win in a row across all competitions.
Federico Valverde and Arda Guler’s first half goals put Madrid in the driving seat and Mbappe added a third in the second half.
“From my experience, this team smells good,” Mourinho told reporters.
The Madrid coach said his team did not lose their heads after their last defeat, by Atletico Madrid on 20 September, after which their winning run began.
“We never had chaos, we’ve been calm, we understand why we lost that game,” said Mourinho.
“I always fight for people to be balanced in the good moments, I always tell them that winning games in a team like Real Madrid, you can’t be taken up in a whirlwind of joy, winning games at Real Madrid has to be normality.”
Los Blancos were without winger Vinicius Junior, who was serving the final game of a four-match ban.
Madrid have thrived in his absence, putting heavy pressure on Barca, whom they beat in the Camp Nou Clasico on 25 October.
In the ninth minutes the match stopped for players and fans to pay tribute to Tenerife striker Jesus de Miguel, who tragically died on Tuesday.
Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois made a smart save to deny Aaron Mayol, who had picked Aurelien Tchouameni’s pocket in a dangerous area.
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Valencia’s Guido Rodriguez had a goal disallowed for offside before Mourinho’s side took control.
Valverde drilled Madrid ahead from outside the area after Mbappe’s free-kick was blocked by the Valencia wall and fell to the Uruguayan.
Guler soon doubled the lead, after Jude Bellingham’s cross was deflected kindly into his path.
Putting the game to bed
Guler had a good chance for the third in early in the second half but Valencia goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski grabbed the ball as the midfielder tried to round him.
Minutes later Dimitrievski saved well from Mbappe as the French striker ran through and tried to dink the ball over him.
Bellingham powered his way through the defence and was also denied by the goalkeeper, as was Mbappe following up with an overhead kick, as Madrid tried to find a third to kill off the game.
Eventually Mbappe produced it, bursting onto a dangerous pass by Guler to dart past Dimitrievski and squeeze home his 13th league goal of the campaign.
It was the forward’s 17th goal in 16 games across all competitions. Mbappe has netted in his last seven appearances for Madrid.
Valencia captain Jose Gaya was dismissed with around 10 minutes remaining for a late sliding foul on Mbappe to further spoil Javier Aguirre’s team’s night. Los Che are 19th, a point from safety.
Bayern and Dortmund win
Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund remained neck and neck at the top of the Bundesliga table after 2-1 wins over Mainz and Elversberg on Saturday.
Bayern and Dortmund, who drew 2-2 in Munich last Saturday, are locked on 21 points, with the defending champions ahead on goal difference after nine rounds.
Harry Kane assisted on both goals as Bayern won at bogey side Mainz for just the third time in their past seven Bundesliga visits.
Goalless in three games since winning the Ballon d’Or in late October, Kane set up Joshua Kimmich’s opener after 14 minutes and laid on a second-half goal for Lennart Karl.
The England captain has continued to show his prowess as a provider this season and has 10 assists to go with 10 goals in all competitions.
Bayern, who won 2-0 at Atletico Madrid in midweek, continue to defy a mounting absentee list.
Without coach Vincent Kompany as he returns from illness, they were also missing Jamal Musiala, Luis Diaz, Ismael Saibari and Serge Gnabry.
History
Manuel Neuer became the oldest player in Bayern’s history when he took the pitch aged 40 years and 225 days, but was substituted before half-time with a foot injury.
In Dortmund, Felix Nmecha bagged a second-half brace as the hosts beat Elversberg, but a Noel Futkeu goal with nine minutes remaining had the hosts sweating in the dying stages.
Both of Nmecha’s goals came from outside the box as Dortmund overcame the absence of striker Serhou Guirassy and the early replacement of in-form forward Carney Chukwuemeka.
Ligue 1
In France, Illia Zabarnyi scored the only goal of the game as a weakened Paris Saint-Germain claimed an unspectacular 1-0 win over Troyes in Ligue 1 on Saturday to make it 11 consecutive victories in all competitions.
Ukraine defender Zabarnyi headed in Senny Mayulu’s cross to break the deadlock in the 39th minute at the Parc des Princes, and that proved sufficient to beat their newly-promoted opponents who lie in the bottom three.
PSG were without a host of key players, with Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Ousmane Dembele, Nuno Mendes, Maghnes Akliouche and captain Marquinhos all injured while Achraf Hakimi was rested and Joao Neves started as a substitute.