Real Madrid 4:1 Mallorca: Rodrygo, Vinicius Jr Individual Brilliance Ensure Los Blancos Go Top of La Liga

• Spanish powerhouse Real Madrid maintained their perfect start to the 2022-23 season after beating Real Mallorca on Sunday
• Mallorca took the lead in the 35th minute thanks to a towering header from Kosovo international Vedat Muriqi
• Federico Valverde immediately scored the equalizer before late goals from Vinicius Jr, Rodrygo and Antonio Rudiger sealed a 4-1 win

Real Madrid thumped Real Mallorca 4-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday afternoon to leapfrog Barcelona back to the summit top of the La Liga table.

First half goal from Federico Valverde and three strikes in the second half from Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo and Antonio Rudiger were enough to hand the Spanish champions the maximum points.

It wasn’t vintage Real Madrid, but Los Blancos eventually got the job done, with some difficulty.

The defending champions started the match one point behind league leaders Barcelona who whitewashed Cadiz 4-0 on Saturday.

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Carlo Ancelotti's men were without their captain Karim Benzema who sustained a thigh in mid-week against Celtic in the UEFA Champions League.

Despite dominating the early stages of the game, Mallorca took the lead in the 35th as Vedat Muriqi’s unmarked header from a Kang In Lee free-kick put Mallorca into an unlikely lead.

The Los Blancos equalised through a brilliant individual effort by Federico Valverde in first-half injury-time.

Mallorca got a brilliant opportunity to take the lead in the second half after Clement Grenier carved out a wonderful chance for Antonio Sanchez, but the Spaniard could only side-foot wide with the Madrid net at his mercy.

It would be a costly miss Vincius Junior stepped up to the plate to chip the hosts into the lead for the first time, after a scintillating run from Rodrygo that carved open the visiting defensive unit.

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Rodrygo turned goalscorer at the third attempt with a memorable solo goal to cap off a fine personal performance.

Antonio Rudiger volleyed in a fourth, ghosting in unmarked at the far post to ease the cushion.

Real Madrid now have 15 points from five games in Spanish top division.

Federico Valverde scores tremendous goal in Real Madrid's game against Mallorca

Sports Brief earlier reported that League leaders Real Madrid welcomed Real Mallorca to Santiago Bernabeu for their La Liga clash on Sunday with no margin for error.

Los Blancos started the day one point behind league leaders Barcelona who whitewashed Cadiz 4-0 on Saturday.

However, the away side opened the scoring in the 34th minute after Lee Kang-In's inswinger found Vedat Muriqi who was unmarked at the back post to nod them into an unlikely lead.