Actual Madrid continues to rival Barcelona in La Liga: Kylian Mbappe’s direct free-kick aim equals Cristiano Ronaldo and Erling Haaland’s data

Actual Madrid continues to rival Barcelona in La Liga: Kylian Mbappe’s direct free-kick aim equals Cristiano Ronaldo and Erling Haaland’s data

As La Liga’s title race intensifies, Actual Madrid as soon as once more proved their resilience, securing a 3-2 comeback win in opposition to Leganes on the Santiago Bernabeu. The victory sees Los Blancos draw stage with Barcelona on factors, establishing an exhilarating finale to the season. However past the end result, this match marked a big second in Kylian Mbappe’s profession, as he scored his first-ever direct free-kick aim, etching his identify alongside a few of the best goalscorers in soccer historical past.

Leganes, a facet battling relegation, arrived on the Bernabeu with little expectation however shocked the house crowd by taking the lead earlier than halftime. Los Blancos began brightly, with Luka Modric and Jude Bellingham testing Leganes’ goalkeeper Marko Dmitrović, nevertheless it was Mbappe who broke the impasse within the thirty second minute.

After Arda Guler was fouled within the field, the French ahead stepped as much as take the penalty. As a substitute of a traditional strike, he cheekily chipped the ball down the center, sending the goalkeeper the fallacious manner—a contact of sophistication that underlined his confidence.

Nevertheless, the lead was short-lived. Simply a minute later, Leganes equalized by means of Diego García, and earlier than halftime, Dani Raba put the guests forward, leaving Carlo Ancelotti’s facet trailing 2-1. Los Blancos, unbeaten at dwelling in La Liga since October, wanted a response. Inside two minutes of the second half, Bellingham fired in an equalizer, capitalizing on a rebound after Brahim Díaz’s shot was deflected onto the crossbar.

Ancelotti then made key modifications, bringing on Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo Goes, and Fede Valverde, trying to flip the sport round. Leganes held agency, however because the match entered its remaining quarter-hour, Madrid discovered their second.

Mbappe’s historic free-kick aim

Within the 76th minute, the house facet gained a free kick simply exterior the field. Fran García laid the ball off for Mbappe, who curled a surprising shot across the wall and into the underside nook. It was a landmark aim—the primary time the French famous person had ever scored immediately from a free kick in his profession.

His celebration confirmed simply how a lot it meant to him, and for Madrid, it was the aim that secured three important factors within the title race.

Matching spectacular data: Cristiano Ronaldo and Erling Haaland

Past its significance within the match, Mbappe’s aim noticed him enter elite firm. With 33 objectives in his debut season at Actual Madrid, he now matches Cristiano Ronaldo’s tally from the Portuguese star’s first season on the membership in 2009-10. Solely Ivan Zamorano now stands forward of him in that regard.

In the meantime, the Frenchman’s prolific scoring run additionally sees him stage with Manchester Metropolis’s Erling Haaland. Based on StatMuse FC on X (previously Twitter), the 2 strikers have 21 league objectives every this season, and 48 league objectives every for the reason that begin of final season

League objectives this season

21 — Kylian Mbappé
21 — Erling Haaland

League objectives since begin of final season

48 — Kylian Mbappé
48 — Erling Haaland

The battle between Mbappe and Haaland is shaping as much as outline soccer’s subsequent nice rivalry.