By Samuel A. September 2, 2024
Kylian Mbappe opened his LaLiga account at the fourth time of asking with a brace to fire Real Madrid to a 2-0 home win over Real Betis. The Frenchman, who came into the club with high expectations on his shoulder, despite coming in for free, had failed to score in Madrid’s opening three league fixtures, which resulted in the champions dropping points at Mallorca and Las Palmas, before netting a brace today.
The first came in the 67th minute when he was put through in the box courtesy of a superb backheel flick from Federico Valverde and his second came from the spot after Vinicius Jnr had been brought down in a one on one with Betis keeper Rui Silva, whom Mbappe sent the wrong way from 12 yards. The win moves Madrid into second place on the table, four points behind leader Barcelona, but it is one of three teams on eight points, with Atletico Madrid in third and Villarreal fourth on goal difference alone.
Madrid controlled possession but struggled against a well-organised Betis defence until it finally managed to break the deadlock through Mbappe. The Frenchman had his chances in the first half, but either missed the target or saw his efforts blocked as frustration grew again inside Santiago Bernabeu.
The expectations will remain high on Mbappe despite his headline performance here. Heading into this fixture, Mbappe had attempted the most shots this season (17) across Europe’s top five leagues, and had the worst difference between expected goals (1.8 xG) and goals scored (none), but the FIFA World Cup winning forward may have quietened most of his doubters now, firing nine shots across a one-man attempt to break down Betis in a man of the match performance.
Away from Mbappe, Madrid has also not conceded in its past five LaLiga games at home for the first time in the competition since October 1996. Mbappe, coupled with Ancelotti’s well drilled defensive strengths, could be the difference for Real Madrid’s title defence across all the competitions they won last season.
