Real Madrid 2-0 Espanyol: Militao and Mbappe stunners continue Alonso's perfect start
Xabi Alonso's Real Madrid continued their brilliant start to the season with a comfortable 2-0 win over Espanyol on Saturday.
Real Madrid extended their perfect LaLiga start with a comfortable 2-0 victory over Espanyol thanks to stunners from Eder Militao and Kylian Mbappe.
Espanyol arrived at the Santiago Bernabeu brimming with confidence, having recorded three wins from their first four matches – their best start to a LaLiga campaign since 1995-96 – but they were undone by two moments of Madrid magic.
Xabi Alonso’s side broke the deadlock in the 22nd minute when defender Militao hammered into the top corner from nearly 30 yards out.
Espanyol, to their credit, continued to probe and carved out a golden opportunity on the stroke of half-time, only for Fernando Calero to miss a point-blank header from a floated free-kick.
And that miss proved costly two minutes into the second half as in-form Mbappe did his best to match Militao’s brilliance with a 25-yard strike of his own.
Having received a pass from Vinicius Junior, the Frenchman beat Marko Dmitrovic at the near post with a perfectly struck shot.
Mbappe later squandered several chances as the hosts attempted to run riot, first lobbing over the bar off a lovely set-up from Franco Mastantuono before firing two successive shots straight at Dmitrovic.
Alonso's team have now won their opening five league games, and moved five points clear at the summit.
Data Debrief: Militao and Mbappe’s long-range madness
Madrid had two long-range stunners from Militao and Mbappe to thank for their victory.
Militao’s superb effort came after a remarkable sequence of 26 passes – a record for a goal scored by a defender in LaLiga since at least the 2005-06 season.
Mbappe, meanwhile, now leads Europe’s top five leagues for both total goals scored (37) and goals from outside the box (six) across all competitions in 2025.
Given the nature of their goals, it is no surprise that Madrid ended up outperforming their expected goals (xG) value of 1.35, while Espanyol will rue some missed opportunities, having fashioned 1.02 xG of their own.
