Real Madrid Keep Perfect La Liga Record with Win Over Levante

Real Madrid continued their perfect start to La Liga with a dominant 4-1 away victory against promoted Levante.

Vinicius Jr., recalled to the starting lineup after he was unhappy with being replaced last weekend, scored the opener, and Franco Mastantuono added the second in the 37th minute as Madrid led 2-0 at halftime.

Levante pulled back a goal with Etta Eyong in the 53rd minute, but a 63rd-minute penalty kick by Kylian Mbappe handed Madrid their two-goal lead. Mbappe scored again two minutes later, guaranteeing victory and keeping the points squarely in the hands of the visitors.

"We've just finished the game and I was fully focused on today's match and where we're headed. We'll start thinking about the derby from tomorrow. It was a really complete team performance, Vini was decisive and put on a really good display, " Madrid coach Xabi Alonso said.

Elsewhere, Villarreal took a late 2-1 victory at Sevilla through Manor Solomon's match-winning breakaway goal five minutes into the final period of play. Tani Oluwaseyi had provided Villarreal with an early advantage in the 16th minute, dictating a large part of the first half, before Djibril Sow levelled matters for Sevilla in the 50th minute. Sevilla looked well set to claim the lead, but Solomon's late goal settled all three points with the visitors.

In earlier action, Athletic Bilbao played out a 1-1 draw at home against Girona. The visitors took the lead in the ninth minute when Azzedine Ounahi’s shot ricocheted off the underside of the crossbar. Athletic made four changes at halftime, and Mikel Jauregizar responded quickly, netting a powerful effort from outside the box just three minutes into the second half to level the score.