Espanyol, sitting 12th prior to kick-off at the Santiago Bernabéu, came into this game off the back of successive league victories that have kickstarted their campaign following promotion.
They were under pressure early on here though. Éder Militão elected not to shoot when put clean through by Brazilian compatriot Rodrygo, before Kylian Mbappé was denied at the back post by visiting goalkeeper Joan García, having been found by Arda Güler’s knockdown.
Fran García was next to test his namesake in the Espanyol goal with a stinging drive from distance, and the 23-year-old stopper then did well to cling on to a powerful effort from Mbappé, who soon lost his balance when trying to turn home captain Luka Modrić’s well-weighted through ball.
In an attempt to relieve the pressure, Espanyol captain Javi Puado tried his luck from around the halfway line, but the backpedalling Thibaut Courtois watched the ball drift comfortably wide.
After the break, it looked as though it would continue to be one-way traffic when Mbappé’s shot on the turn tested García, but to their immense credit, Espanyol quickly replied with dangerous strikes from Jofre Carreras and Carlos Romero, the first of which was tipped over by Courtois at full stretch.
And it was Carreras who incredibly broke the deadlock on 58 minutes, latching onto García’s inch-perfect goal kick and looking like he had run out of room at the byline before firing a low shot through Courtois’ legs to stun the home faithful.
That shock led to Carlo Ancelotti introducing Vinícius Júnior in place of Güler, and it wasn’t long before Real Madrid levelled.
García did well to parry a Federico Valverde piledriver, but Jude Bellingham regained possession and squared under the goalkeeper, who should have done better, with Dani Carvajal tapping in the loose ball.
Most people would have expected Los Blancos to complete the comeback, and after initially struggling to build on that equaliser, Vinícius produced an unbelievable trivela cross which was converted at close range by Rodrygo on 75 minutes to break Espanyol hearts.
The points were sealed shortly after as Vinícius applied the finish to Mbappé’s lovely pass. And there was still time for one more, as Real Madrid were awarded a penalty when substitute Endrick produced some audacious skill and was then rugby-tackled by Romero, with Mbappé stepping up to score.
The win was Real Madrid’s 11th successive home H2H triumph as they look ahead to another Bernabéu fixture on Tuesday against overachieving Alavés. Meanwhile, Espanyol must wait until Thursday to avenge this defeat, as they host Villarreal.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Vinícius Júnior (Real Madrid)
