Real Madrid moved one point clear of league leaders Barcelona with a hard-fought football victory over their local rivals.
Published: February 1, 2026
Kylian Mbappe kept his composure and converted a penalty after 100 minutes to give Real Madrid a 2-1 win over nine-man Rayo Vallecano in the La Liga football derby on Sunday.
Los Blancos cut Barcelona’s lead back to one point, a day after the Spanish champions defeated Elche.
Recommended Stories
List of 4 itemsend of list
Vinicius Junior scored early for Madrid as Jude Bellingham limped off with an apparent hamstring injury.
Jorge de Frutos drew Rayo level early in the second half as Madrid fans vented their anger at their team. But Mbappe scored at the death after Rayo’s Pathe Ciss was shown a red card.
Pep Chavarria was also sent off against 17th-placed Rayo, who dragged a faltering Madrid to the finish line but fell short.
The Santiago Bernabeu crowd was in an unforgiving mood after the hosts lost to Benfica in midweek to qualify for the Champions League play-offs.
Mbappe and Madrid coach Álvaro Arbeloa implored fans to support their team, but whistled at their own players as they did against Levante two weeks ago.
Former Barcelona winger Ilias Accomach had an early effort that went wide but the atmosphere would have been made worse if his effort had found its way into Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois’ net.
Los Blancos suffered an early setback when England international Bellingham pulled over in distress holding the back of his thigh.
Vinicius put the hosts ahead in the 15th minute, displaying neat footwork from just inside the area before firing high past Augusto Batalla towards goal.
Arda Guler went close to scoring his second when Batalla had an effort blocked and Vinicius diverted the rebound wide.
Los Blancos were leading but the fans were not appeased and whistled at their team at the break.
Rayo raised the level just 4 minutes into the second half. Álvaro Garcia nodded a cross down for former Madrid youth player De Frutos to race home.
The visitors should have taken the lead after an hour when Andrei Ratiu beat only Courtois to head through on goal. But the Belgian stopper made a superb save to deny him.
Mbappe was inches away from putting Madrid ahead as Batala charged towards his own goal, with the French striker tapping the ball around him before hitting the bar from distance.
Rayo made life more difficult for midfielder Ciss when he was sent off for an ugly foul on Madrid’s Dani Ceballos.
Eduardo Camavinga’s header on goal forced Arbeloa to turn and nine minutes of added time were added.
With time ticking down, Madrid were awarded a penalty when Nobel Mendy committed a clumsy foul on Brahim Diaz and La Liga’s top scorer Mbappe sent the ball home to give his side three points.
Rayo finished the game with nine men after Chavarria received a second yellow card for shoving Rodrygo Goes.
