Kylian Mbappe scored one goal and set up another to lead 10-man Real Madrid to a 2-1 victory at Real Sociedad in the Spanish league on Saturday.
Crosstown rival Atletico Madrid earned its first win of the season before facing Liverpool in the Champions League, while Athletic Bilbao lost before hosting Arsenal.
Mbappe opened the scoring in the 12th minute with his fourth goal in as many games this season. The France striker used his superior speed to race onto a poor pass by a Sociedad player and fire past goalkeeper Alex Remiro.
Madrid played a man down for nearly an hour after new central defender Dean Huijsen saw a direct red card in the 32nd for pulling down Mikel Oyarzabal with only the goalie to beat.
But Mbappe helped double the lead in the 44th when he used some fancy dribbling to spin around his marker near the byline before finding Arda Guler with a pass for the Türkiye midfielder to score.
Oyarzabal pulled one back for the hosts by converting a penalty in the 56th. Dani Carvajal had conceded the spot kick when a ball hit his arm in the area.
It was Madrid’s fourth win in as many games to start La Liga.
“The red card changed the game a bit. We struggled a bit as a team, but we take home the three points,” Mbappe said. “Our start to the season has been very good, as has mine.”
Madrid failed to win a major title with Mbappe last season, finishing behind Barcelona in the league. With Xabi Alonso as its new coach, it has an early lead over its top rival. Barcelona plays Valencia on Sunday, trailing five points behind Madrid.
Alonso said that Huijsen, who joined from Bournemouth this summer, was “angry but relieved” after seeing his sending off didn’t help cost his team points.
Madrid starts its Champions League campaign on Tuesday against Marseille.
Gonzalez scores on Atletico debut
Nico Gonzalez scored on his debut for Atletico Madrid after the Argentina midfielder joined from Juventus on loan to help beat Villarreal 2-0.
Pablo Barrio netted in the ninth before Gonzalez headed in Marcos Llorente’s cross in the 52nd.
Atletico’s first win of the season comes after its worst start since Diego Simeone became coach over a decade ago.
Striker Julián Alvarez was substituted at halftime as a “precaution” the club said on X.
Next up for Atletico is a trip to Anfield on Wednesday.
“We weren’t that bad before and now we aren’t suddenly great, so let’s stay calm, this has just started,” Atletico midfielder Koke Resurrección said. “Now we need to rest up for our very important match at Liverpool.”
Alaves stuns Athletic in San Mames
Alaves won at Athletic Bilbao for the first time in 20 years thanks to an own goal by Álex Berenguer to take the Basque Country derby 1-0.
It was the first loss for Athletic this season after Ernesto Valverde’s side had won its first three matches.
The stumble comes before Athletic hosts Arsenal on Tuesday in the Champions League.
Athletic was without injured forward Nico Williams, who was injured playing for Spain last week.
Mario Martín and Borja Mayoral scored as Getafe continued to impress with a 2-0 win over promoted Oviedo. José Bordalas’ modest team has three wins to go with one loss.
