Endrick enjoyed his first signature Real Madrid moment Thursday evening, bashing home an extra time winner – and then completing a brace – to carry Los Blancos past Celta Vigo in an eventual 5-2 victory.
Carlo Ancelotti’s side were dominant for 80 minutes, poor for 10, and then turned it on in extra time to secure a win that was far nervier than the scoreline suggested.
Madrid came alive after a dour first 30 minutes. Brahim Diaz offered a real threat in a rare start, bursting down the right side before forcing a fine save out of Ivan Villar. Mbappe opened the scoring in the 37th minute. The Frenchman took the ball on the left, evaded his man, and finished across the goalkeeper to give Los Blancos a 1-0 lead.
The second came shortly after half time, and showed just how good this Madrid team could be on the break. Mbappe found Brahim Diaz, who slipped Vinicius through on goal – setting the Brazilian up for an easy finish. The Frenchman could have added one or two more, but put a header over the bar and saw a curled effort miss the top corner. Los Blancos thought they had a third when Arda Guler found the back of the net from a Vinicius pass – but the Brazilian was adjudged narrowly offside in the build up.
An Eduardo Camavinga mistake let Celta back into the game. The substitute underhit a backpass, which Celta worked into a clear opportunity for Jonathan Bamba – who finished well. The visitors grabbed a second in stoppage time, Marcos Alonso tucking one into the bottom corner from the spot after Raul Asencio gave away a silly penalty.
Extra time brought few good chances. Antonio Rudiger came closest, hitting the post from a corner before Endrick made it 3-2, pivoting before smashing the ball home from the edge of the box. Federico Valverde put the game beyond doubt late in extra time, pinging one into the top corner from 30 yards out, while Endrick backheeled home an audacious fifth to seal things for good – even if this was far from a convincing showing.
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