Kylian Mbappe scored three goals and Vinicius Junior added a fourth as Real Madrid defeated Real Sociedad 4-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday night, giving manager Jose Mourinho a dominant first home win since returning to lead the club.
Jude Bellingham supplied two assists, and the performance from Madrid's three marquee attackers suggested Mourinho is finding a way to get the best from all of them. Mourinho had previously acknowledged it would be tricky but not impossible to have his biggest names performing at their peak simultaneously.
According to Al Jazeera, Mourinho selected the same starting lineup that earned a late 2-1 win at Espanyol in his first match in charge the previous Saturday, and Madrid made it two wins from two to open the La Liga season.
Mbappe opened the scoring five minutes before halftime when Federico Valverde fed him the ball. The French forward, who has been the top scorer in La Liga in each of the last two seasons, took a touch to escape his marker and buried the ball in the top corner for his first goal of the new campaign.
Real Sociedad equalized before the break through Luka Sucic, whose shot deflected in off Alvaro Carreras after a moment of hesitation from Job Ochieng. The equalizer was brief. After the restart, a move involving Valverde and Bellingham ended with Mbappe stroking home his second.
Vinicius scored the third after Bellingham refused to give up on a blocked shot, won the ball back in Sociedad's area, and laid it on for the Brazilian to tap in. Then Vinicius returned the favor, threading a perfectly weighted pass to Mbappe for his third goal, a dink over goalkeeper Alex Remiro that was the pick of the night's finishes.
Mourinho's return to the Bernabeu has been watched closely. The Portuguese manager previously led Real Madrid to La Liga titles and a Copa del Rey before departing in 2013. His reappointment drew significant attention across European football.
