Madrid escapes wasteful Celta with victory
Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior were the scorers as Real Madrid left Celta Vigo a 2-1 winner, but the hosts were left to rue a stakc of excellent chances to upset their illustrious visitors.
Mbappe scored after possession had been stolen in the final third, firing home an outstanding long-range effort from the edge of the box in the 20th minute.
Celta's Williot Swedberg had fired wide after being sent clear on goal from a long ball in the eighth minute, and while he made amends to equalise for the hosts in the 51st minute, Madrid would again go ahead after substitute Luka Modric played a sublime throughball for Vinicius to slot home just 15 minutes later.
There were more chances for Celta to score before full-time, not least in the second minute of stoppage-time when Tasos Douvikas should have scored but instead shot wide of the target as any chance of at least a point went begging.
Madrid sits second on the LaLiga table equal on 24 points with leader Barcelona, while for Celta, a fifth defeat of the season leaves it in 10th position with 13 points.
Vinicius has been involved in at least one goal in each of his past six LaLiga games – four goals and three assists – his best such run in the competition.
It proved a landmark game for substitute Modric, too, as the Croatia midfielder became Madrid's oldest player in history, aged 39 years and 40 days.
Modric moved past Madrid great Ferenc Puskas for the club record, while the midfielder has been part of 363 wins for Los Blancos, which is 22 more than nearest rival and former team-mate Karim Benzema.
This was his 547th appearance for the LaLiga champions as well, a tally no player can match since his debut for the club in August 2012.
