After a slow start to his Real Madrid career, Kylian Mbappé has already surpassed one of the club greats.
Mbappé scored twice in Madrid’s 2-1 comeback win over Villarreal on Saturday to take his tally to 31 goals in all competitions this season — one more than Brazil striker Ronaldo managed in his first campaign at the club. It also helped Madrid open up a three-point lead atop the Spanish league over Barcelona, which has played two games less.
Long gone are the scoring troubles Mbappé endured in his first months at Madrid.
Having surpassed Ronaldo’s tally from 2002-03, the former Paris Saint-Germain player is now closing in on the 33 goals that Cristiano Ronaldo scored in his first season with Madrid in 2009-10.
“They are legends who marked eras with the club,” Mbappé said about the two Ronaldos. “If I score more goals than Ronaldo and Cristiano it doesn’t mean that I am better, just that my first season is better. Scoring goals is important, but it is even more so if we win La Liga, the Champions League and the Copa del Rey.”
His double at fifth-placed Villarreal took Mbappe’s La Liga tally to 20 goals, only one fewer than Barcelona’s Robert Lewandowski in the domestic competition.
Leading the comeback
Villarreal made it a pulsating game as it attacked in waves with Alex Baena and Nicolas Pepe helping create a series of chances. Thibaut Courtois made three good stops for Madrid to deny Pepe, Ayoze Pérez, and Pape Gueye in the first half.
But Villarreal paid at the other end where Mbappé ruthlessly exploited the holes in the Yellow Submarine’s defense.
“Mbappé didn’t participate much, but he was lethal,” Villarreal coach Marcelino Toral said.
A one-handed save by Courtois to deny Ayoze led to a corner kick that resulted in Villarreal’s eight-minute opener. Juan Foyth swept home a ball that fell to him inside the six-yard box after it had ricocheted off players in a packed area.
Source : https://apnews.com/article/mbappe-real-madrid-villarreal-898df7b01429fa635d53f845c45dbfc5
