MADRID — Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior scored as Real Madrid beat Alaves, 2-1, on Tuesday to cling on to their slim hopes of catching Barcelona in La Liga.
Mbappe struck his league-leading 24th goal, but first since early February, with a deflected shot on the half hour at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Vinicius lashed in a second from distance early in the second half, which proved crucial as Alaves pulled a goal back in stoppage time through Toni Martinez.
The victory ended a two-match winless run in La Liga for Madrid and moved them back to within six points of leaders Barcelona, who host Celta Vigo on Wednesday.
“We have six matches coming up, the next one in three days. The aim is to win those matches — that’s the goal we’ve set ourselves as a team,” said Madrid coach Alvaro Arbeloa, whose position is under increasing scrutiny.
“I don’t care much about what’s at stake for me personally. What matters to me is what’s at stake for Real Madrid.”
Madrid are staring down the barrel of a second consecutive season without a major trophy following last week’s Champions League quarterfinal exit at the hands of Bayern Munich.
Mbappe scored in both legs of that 6-4 aggregate defeat but a barren patch in La Liga, in part because of a knee injury, coincided with archrivals Barcelona streaking clear at the top.
Madrid faced early pressure from relegation-threatened Alaves, who were unbeaten in four matches.
Angel Perez broke in behind the home defense before strangely opting to pass instead of shooting with just Andriy Lunin blocking his path to goal. Martinez then tested the Real keeper after finding a pocket of space. AFP