Kylian Mbappe delivered a stunning performance on Saturday, scoring a hat-trick to lead Real Madrid to a 3-0 victory over Valladolid in La Liga.
The result further solidified Madrid’s position at the top of the league, with a four-point lead over second-place Atletico Madrid, who drew 1-1 against Villarreal earlier that day.
Barcelona, currently in third place, now trail Madrid by 10 points before their match against Valencia on Sunday.
Mbappe’s clinical display came at a crucial time, as he extended his remarkable form.
After a period of inconsistency following his high-profile summer move from Paris Saint-Germain, the French forward seems to have found his best form.
With this hat-trick, he now has 15 goals in La Liga this season, just one behind Barcelona’s Robert Lewandowski, who has 16 goals.
Madrid’s dominant performance came despite the absence of Brazilian forward Vinicius Junior, who was suspended for the match.
Valladolid, who are struggling at the bottom of the table, managed to test Madrid early on, with Thibaut Courtois saving a header from David Torres. However, that was one of their few significant chances.
The breakthrough came in the 30th minute when Jude Bellingham played a deflected pass to Mbappe, who calmly curled the ball into the top corner of the net, putting Madrid ahead.
This goal marked Mbappe’s fifth consecutive match in which he found the back of the net, showing that he is gradually becoming the lethal striker Madrid had hoped for when they signed him.
Despite not creating many additional chances, Madrid continued to control the match, with Mbappe taking charge in the second half.
In the 57th minute, Rodrygo Goes set up Mbappe for his second goal, a low strike past Valladolid goalkeeper Karl Hein, which was strikingly similar to his first goal in terms of position and technique.
Mbappe completed his hat-trick with a penalty late in the match after Mario Martin fouled Bellingham inside the box. Martin’s challenge, which left Bellingham with a studs-up injury to his calf, earned him a red card.
Mbappe made no mistake from the spot, sending Hein the wrong way and adding his 12th goal in his last 11 appearances across all competitions.
