Photo Credit: Getty Images
Lucas Vazquez bagged the fastest La Liga goal of the season as Real Madrid staved off a late comeback to beat Deportivo Alaves 3-2 at the Santiago Bernabeu in Carlo Ancelotti’s 300th match in charge. It was surprisingly a full-strength Los Blancos lineup despite Sunday’s Madrid derby looming large, and it took less than a minute for the 36-time champions to grab control of the game.
In his first act of the game, Vinicius Junior drove to the byline and cut the ball back perfectly for the onrushing Vazquez to convert. With just 55 seconds on the clock, it was Real’s fastest goal in over six years, since Vazquez himself netted after 49 seconds against Real Sociedad in February 2018.
Kylian Mbappe had already had a goal disallowed by the time he struck Madrid’s second with five minutes left of the first half, as the Frenchman finished a 26-pass move in glorious fashion. Having fed Jude Bellingham with an audacious flick, he gratefully received the ball back from his English teammate and, with a swift dip of the shoulder, evaded the Alaves defence and fired beyond Antonio Sivera. In comparison to the first half, the home side were slow starters after the break as they took a full three minutes to add a third goal.
Rodrygo had few options ahead of him as he pounced upon a loose ball just inside the Alaves half, but the Brazilian had the pace and acceleration to breeze beyond his two markers and drill the ball low between the legs of Sivera. With the win seemingly secured, Ancelotti was able to rest key players and give Endrick a 20-minute cameo to add to his burgeoning reputation, and the Brazilian teenager obliged by holding off two defenders and thumping a strike against the post.
It was the last comfortable moment of the match for the men from the capital as two late Alaves goals stunned the Bernabeu. First, Carlos Protesoni’s strike from the edge of the area flew past Thibaut Courtois for what looked like a consolation, but Kike Garcia’s smart finish two minutes later made an unlikely comeback a real possibility. With six minutes added time, Basque hopes were still alive, but the home side would register another win to make it 39 games unbeaten in the league and stay in touch with early season pace setters Barcelona.
