BARCELONA — Despite a coaching change and some poor play that irked its fans, Real Madrid returned to the top of La Liga after Klyian Mbappe scored a brace in a 2-0 win at Villarreal on Saturday.
Mbappe scored early in the second half and added an injury-time penalty to ensure Madrid rose two points above Barcelona, which will need to beat bottom side Real Oviedo at home on Sunday to reclaim first place.
Those were Mbappe’s La Liga-leading 20th and 21st goals in 20 appearances by the France star.
Madrid has stayed close to Barcelona even though it has not been playing up to the standards of its demanding club executives and supporters.
The club fired coach Xabi Alonso after it lost to Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup final two weeks ago, only for the team to also endure an embarrassing exit to a second-tier team in the Copa del Rey in the debut of his replacement, Alvaro Arbeloa.
The sudden coaching change and poor play sparked fan protests during Madrid’s last two home games, a pair of wins in La Liga and the Champions League.
But a loss by Barcelona at Real Sociedad last weekend opened the door for Madrid to slip ahead at Villarreal. And now Arbeloa has overseen three comfortable victories in a row.
Arbeloa praised Mbappé and fellow forward Vinícius Júnior, whose incisive play with the ball helped set up both goals. Vinícius received the worst of the jeers in the Santiago Bernabeu this week.
Villarreal still has one more game to play but it fell into fourth place at 10 points behind Madrid.
