Soccer Football - LaLiga - Celta Vigo v Real Madrid - Estadio de Balaidos, Vigo, Spain - October 19, 2024 Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe in action with Celta Vigo's Carl Starfelt REUTERS/Miguel Vidal
VIGO, Spain (Reuters) -Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Jr scored in each half to give Real Madrid a hard-fought 2-1 win at Celta Vigo in LaLiga on Saturday.
Mbappe gave Real the lead with a brilliant strike from long range in the 20th minute. However, Swedish forward Williot Swedberg equalised for the home side with a first-touch effort from a counter-attack in the 51st minute.
Real went ahead again when substitute Luka Modric played Vinicius through and the Brazilian took the ball past the goalkeeper before finishing in the 66th minute.
Real are second in the LaLiga standings on 24 points, level with leaders Barcelona who have a game in hand and host Sevilla on Sunday.
Real were aggressive from the start but left themselves exposed to counter-attacks, with Swedberg missing two clear chances from close range within the first 15 minutes.
Celta misplaced a pass that was intercepted by Mbappe who picked up the ball outside the box and fired an unstoppable strike into the top corner to give the visiting side the lead.
Vinicius was a constant menace up and down the left side but was wasteful as Real could have easily reached halftime further ahead.
However, in a quick counter-attack six minutes into the second half Oscar Mingueza boosted up the right wing and crossed to Swedberg who beat the offside trap to tap-in a first-touch effort to the left of Real goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.
As Celta tried for a winner, it was Real who snatched victory through a terrific pass by 39-year-old Modric, who saw Vinicius ghosting between two defenders and delivered a pass that the Brazilian finished to seal the three points.
(Reporting by Fernando KallasEditing by Christian Radnedge)
