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MADRID: Carlos Esp\u00ed scored in stoppage time after a nifty move by Jude Bellingham and an assist by Kylian Mbapp\u00e9 to help Real Madrid salvage a 3-2 win at Elche in the Spanish league after it relinquished a two-goal lead on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Bellingham used a neat long touch to get past an opponent near midfield and fed Mbapp\u00e9 in a breakaway into the area, and the France star quickly set up Esp\u00ed\u2019s close-range score to give Madrid the victory and move the Spanish powerhouse even on points with Barcelona. The defending champion can regain the lead when it hosts promoted Racing Santander on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe went from having it easy to losing control,\u201d Real Madrid coach Jos\u00e9 Mourinho said. \u201cBut in the difficulty of the moment, facing the pressure of losing points, the team reacted and won the match, which in the end is the most important thing. The good thing is that nobody gets bored when Real Madrid plays. The games are always fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
Madrid had taken the lead against Elche with an own-goal by goalkeeper Mat\u00edas Dituro in the 25th after the ball ricocheted off him following a well-struck free kick taken by Arda Guler. Mbapp\u00e9 added to the lead by scoring from close range after an assist by Yan Diomande in the 33rd.<\/p>\n
Abiel Osorio pulled the hosts closer with a header in the 71st and Fer Ni\u00f1o netted the equalizer in the 83rd.<\/p>\n
There was a bit of a scare immediately after Mbapp\u00e9 scored as he stayed on the ground in visible pain, but he eventually returned to the field after being attended by Madrid doctors.<\/p>\n
The goal moved him to seven goals in six league matches, one goal more than Lamine Yamal, Raphinha, Sergio Camello and Roberto Fern\u00e1ndez.<\/p>\n
Mbapp\u00e9 had scored a brace in Madrid\u2019s 4-1 win against Rayo Vallecano in the previous round.<\/p>\n
He had a goal disallowed for offside just before halftime on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Bellingham came into the match by replacing Guler in the 68th.<\/p>\n
Madrid\u2019s only league setback this season was at Real Betis two rounds ago.<\/p>\n
Mbapp\u00e9 and Vin\u00edcius avoid T-shirt<\/strong><\/p>\n Players from both clubs wore t-shirts showing words of support for Ceuta as they came onto the field before the match. But Madrid players Mbapp\u00e9, Vin\u00edcius J\u00fanior and Ibrahima Konat\u00e9 wore the shirt only halfway down their chest, without pulling them down, and obscuring some of the words on it. Mbapp\u00e9 and Vin\u00edcius removed their shirts before they saluted the other players and the referees.<\/p>\n They had not immediately explained why they did that.<\/p>\n In July, tens of thousands of migrants breached the frontier between Spain\u2019s North African territory of Ceuta and neighboring Morocco.<\/p>\n Valencia wins after shake-up<\/strong><\/p>\n Valencia won 1-0 at Alaves to end a four-game losing streak and a winless start to the season.<\/p>\n The string of poor results had led to the firing of coach Carlos Corber\u00e1n and soccer CEO Ron Gourlay this weekend. It then appointed Braulio V\u00e1zquez as its new sporting director and named B-team coach \u00d3scar S\u00e1nchez as an interim manager.<\/p>\n Luis Rioja scored a 78th-minute winner for Valencia, which had been outscored 10-1 so far.<\/p>\n Valencia fans had been protesting and called players \u201cmercenaries\u201d after the 5-0 home loss to Barcelona. They have long called for the exit of owner Peter Lim.<\/p>\n Rayo Vallecano triumphs in Butarque again<\/strong><\/p>\n Rayo Vallecano beat Espanyol 2-1 with first-half goals by \u00c1lvaro Garc\u00eda and Adria Pedrosa in what may have been its last match before returning home to Vallecas Stadium.<\/p>\n It was Rayo\u2019s third home game played at Butarque Stadium \u2014 which belongs to second-tier club Leganes \u2014 because of unsafe conditions at Vallecas. It also beat Racing Santander 3-2 and drew Alaves 1-1 at Butarque.<\/p>\n Roberto Fern\u00e1ndez scored for Espanyol in the second half for his sixth goal in six matches.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n