Kylian Mbappe inspires Real Madrid to power past battling Leganes

Real Madrid have answered Barcelona’s La Liga title challenge with a battling 3-2 home win over Leganes.

Carlo Ancelotti’s side returned from the international break needing to win at home to their local rivals to move back level on points at the summit with their El Clasico foes.

Despite being blow par for the majority of the game, Ancelotti’s rotated team showed their steel late on, as the on-fire Kylian Mbappe made the key difference.

A low-key encounter came to life just after the half-hour mark as Mbappe casually dinked home a panenka penalty to put the hosts 1-0 in front.

However, that lead was cancelled out inside 60 seconds, as Diego Garcia capitalised on a Lucas Vazquez mistake to equalise.

The setback was deepened before the break for Ancelotti as Dani Raba silenced the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu to slide Leganes 2-1 ahead.

Real Madrid had not lost a league game at home since October, and their title winning grit kicked in straight after the restart, as Jude Bellingham bundled home from close range to tie the contest.

With the hosts not in a position to settle for a draw, as the title stakes remain sky high, Ancelotti turned to his bench and threw on Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo Goes and Fede Valverde – who were all rested after long trips back from the break.

That amped up the pressure on the Leganes back line and they were eventually undone by a piece of Mbappe magic as he rolled a free kick to Fran Garcia and curled home a superb winner.

Goal No.33 of Mbappe’s debut campaign in Madrid matches that of Cristiano Ronaldo’s first season at the club from 2009/10 with only Ivan Zamarano now ahead of him in that list.

There is no time to step off the gas for Ancelotti’s team as they face a quick turnaround with a Copa del Rey semi final second leg on the horizon against Real Sociedad on April 1.

Images via Getty Images / One Football