Real Madrid moved to the top of La Liga with a comfortable 4-0 victory over Malaga at the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday, extending their perfect start to nine points from three matches.
Jude Bellingham opened the scoring in the 19th minute after surging through the Malaga defence before finishing confidently into the net. Malaga’s players appealed for a foul during the build-up, but the referee stood by the decision to award the goal.
Bellingham was involved again seven minutes later. The England midfielder sent a powerful header towards goal and, as a Malaga player attempted to clear it, the ball struck goalkeeper Alfonso Herrero’s back before crossing the line for Real Madrid’s second.
Real Madrid completed a dominant opening half-hour when Kylian Mbappe made it 3-0 in the 30th minute. Trent Alexander-Arnold delivered an excellent cross, and Mbappe took advantage to put the home side firmly in command.
The result lifted Real Madrid above Atletico Madrid, who have seven points. Malaga remain on one point and occupy 18th place in the table.
Despite making five changes to the side that started the match against Real Sociedad, manager Jose Mourinho saw his team produce a composed performance. Antonio Rudiger, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Marc Cucurella, Brahim Diaz and Eduardo Camavinga were all named in the starting XI.
Bernardo Silva, Konate and Denzel Dumfries were among those left on the bench.
Real Madrid reduced the tempo considerably after half-time, having effectively settled the contest during the opening 45 minutes. Mourinho made his first change in the 65th minute, replacing Brahim Diaz with Diomande, before bringing on Bernardo Silva for Federico Valverde 10 minutes later in an attempt to add fresh energy.
Malaga were awarded a penalty in the 85th minute after the referee judged that the ball had struck Diomande’s arm inside the wall. Real Madrid’s players protested, prompting the referee to review the incident on the video assistant referee monitor.
After watching the replay, the official overturned the decision. The ball had travelled from Rudiger’s head, as he attempted to block the delivery in the defensive wall, directly onto Diomande’s arm, with no indication that the contact had been deliberate.
With Malaga pushing forward in search of a consolation goal, Real Madrid dropped deeper and looked for opportunities to counter-attack. Bellingham was replaced by Arda Guler in the 87th minute, and the home side soon made the visitors’ attacking approach count.
The fourth goal arrived in the first minute of added time. Guler combined with Vinicius Junior, who brilliantly moved beyond a Malaga defender before returning the ball to the Turkish midfielder in front of goal. Guler then calmly finished into the empty net.
Real Madrid’s three-goal burst inside the first 30 minutes gave them the platform for victory, while their disciplined second-half approach ensured Malaga were unable to recover.
