MADRID: Real Madrid took advantage of a red card for a Getafe player who stayed less than a minute on the field to win 1-0 with an 80th-minute goal by Kylian Mbappe on Sunday.
The hard-fought victory moved Madrid back on top of the Spanish league, two points ahead of Barcelona, who beat last-placed Girona 2-1 with a stoppage-time goal by Ronald Araujo on Saturday.
Mbappe’s league-leading 10th goal of the season came shortly after host Getafe went a man down because of a straight red card shown to Allan Nyom about 40 seconds after he came off the bench.
Nyom fouled Real Madrid forward Vinícius Junior away from the ball as Madrid started to build a breakaway in the 77th.
Madrid, who had been struggling to create significant scoring chances, took advantage of the sending off and Mbappe scored with a shot from inside the area after a nice through ball by Arda Güler.
Mbappe has scored in 13 of the 14 games he played this season for club and country. He has scored at least once in 11 straight matches.
“We’re very pleased with how Kylian is doing,” Madrid coach Xabi Alonso said. “He’s been decisive with his goals and his involvement. Goals give you points, but we need everyone because there’s a lot going on in the background.”
Getafe went another man down four minutes later when Alex Sancris was shown a second yellow card for another foul on Vinícius.
Despite playing with nine men, Getafe nearly equalized in stoppage time, with Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois charging from the net to make a difficult close-range save to a shot by Abu Kamara inside the area.
“That missed chance by Kamara was a pity,” Getafe coach José Bordalas said. “Nyom’s red card made the difference. For me that’s not a red card, at most a yellow.”
Bordalas criticized Vinícius, claiming the Brazil forward provoked him by saying something to the effect of “good job making the substitution” to include Nyom in the match.
Getafe, who had only one attempt on target, stayed in 12th place. They have a five-game winless streak.
Madrid have won 10 of their 11 games in all tournaments this season, with their lone setback a league loss at Atletico Madrid last month.
Just like at the other league matches this weekend, players stood still for the first 15 seconds of the game in opposition to La Liga’s plan to hold the Barcelona-Villarreal game in the US on Dec. 20.
De Frutos leads Rayo
Jorge de Frutos scored two first-half goals as Rayo Vallecano won 3-0 at Levante for their third straight win across all competitions.
De Frutos, a former Levante player, scored in the 12th and 25th minutes, and Alvaro García sealed the victory in the 65th.
Rayo were coming off another road win in the league against Real Sociedad, and they had beaten Shkendija 2-0 at home in the Europa League.
Levante have won only one of their last four league matches.
Sociedad and Celta still struggling
Real Sociedad needed an 89th-minute goal by Carlos Soler to draw 1-1 at 10-man Celta Vigo, extending both teams’ poor start to the season.
Sociedad, sitting in 18th, have only one win in nine league matches, with five losses and three draws. The Basque Country team’s only win was against Mallorca.
Celta, who had defender Carl Starfelt sent off with a second yellow card in first-half stoppage time, opened the scoring with Pablo Duran in the 20th.
In 17th place, Celta remain the only team without a league win after nine rounds. They have seven draws and two losses.
Simon save Athletic
Athletic Bilbao needed a solid performance by Spain goalkeeper Unai Simon to salvage a 0-0 draw at promoted Elche.
The result kept seventh-placed Elche tied with eighth-placed Athletic on 14 points.
