Real Madrid maintained their perfect start to the season in La Liga with a comfortable 4-0 home win over promoted Málaga on Sunday, scoring three times inside 30 minutes before adding a late fourth. Jude Bellingham’s brilliant solo opener, an own goal by the Málaga goalkeeper Alfonso Herrero and a sharp Kylian Mbappé volley effectively settled the contest before half-time, with substitute Arda Guler wrapping up the victory in added time at the Bernabéu. The win lifted Madrid to nine points from three matches, two clear of Atlético Madrid and Alavés.
Barcelona, fourth on six points with a game in hand, host Rayo Vallecano on Monday. Bellingham opened the scoring in the 19th minute with a superb burst through the middle, collecting a loose ball near the edge of the area, gliding past three defenders and firing low beneath Herrero. They doubled their lead seven minutes later after Herrero could only palm out Mbappé’s effort.
Bellingham headed the rebound back towards goal and, as Herrero and a teammate collided while trying to clear, the ball ended up in the net. Mbappé then made it 3-0 in the 30th minute, meeting Trent Alexander-Arnold’s cross with a fine volley from the centre of the box. The second half drifted until Guler, shortly after coming on, started and finished a slick move, feeding Vinícius Júnior before tapping in the Brazilian’s return pass to complete the rout.
Napoli suffered a 2-1 defeat at home to Como in Serie A, with all three goals coming in an entertaining opening half. Assane Diao looked the most threatening player in the opening stages and the winger was instrumental in the visitors’ 17th-minute opening goal. Diao went past Mathías Olivera on the right wing and played a pass across to Martin Baturina whose shot on the turn from close to the penalty spot found the bottom corner of the net.
Noa Lang missed an excellent chance to equalise, sending a header over from inside the six-yard box, before Napoli drew level on the half-hour mark. Rasmus Højlund collected a pass on the edge of the area, rolled the ball away from the defender Jacobo Ramón to make room for the shot which he drilled low into the far corner, but Como were back in front four minutes later when Napoli were caught napping at the back. André-Frank Zambo Anguissa underhit a pass back to Amir Rrahmani in his own box, allowing Baturina to nick the ball away.
It fell to Tasos Douvikas and Como’s top scorer last season netted his second goal of this campaign. Yuito Suzuki scored a hat-trick as Freiburg thumped Werder Bremen 4-1, while Schalke’s nightmare return to the Bundesliga ended in a 3-0 away defeat to Augsburg as they finished with 10 men. Schalke spent the last three seasons in the second tier and would have hoped for a positive result on their return, but were well beaten in a lively contest in which both sides created plenty of chances.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
