Real Madrid beat Valencia 3-0 at Mestalla to move provisionally level on points with La Liga leaders Barcelona, with Kylian Mbappe scoring for a seventh consecutive match.
Federico Valverde and Arda Guler put Jose Mourinho’s side in control before Mbappe added a third after the interval. The result gave Madrid an eighth successive win in all competitions and increased the pressure on Barcelona, who visit third-placed Atletico Madrid on Sunday.
Madrid were without Vinicius Junior, who was serving the final match of a four-game suspension. They have continued to prosper in his absence, including a victory over Barcelona in the Camp Nou Clasico on October 25.
The match paused in the ninth minute as players and supporters paid tribute to Tenerife striker Jesus de Miguel, who died on Tuesday.
Valencia briefly threatened when Aaron Mayol dispossessed Aurelien Tchouameni in a dangerous position, but Thibaut Courtois reacted sharply to keep out his effort. Guido Rodriguez also had a goal ruled out for offside.
Madrid took the lead after Mbappe’s free-kick struck the wall and fell to Valverde, who drove the ball into the net from outside the area.
Guler then doubled the advantage before half-time. Jude Bellingham’s cross took a favourable deflection and presented the midfielder with the chance to finish.
Valencia goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski kept his side in the contest early in the second half, collecting the ball as Guler tried to round him and then denying Mbappe when the forward attempted to lift a finish over him.
Bellingham was also thwarted after powering through the defence, while Dimitrievski denied Mbappe again after an overhead-kick attempt. The goalkeeper’s resistance finally ended when Mbappe raced on to a dangerous pass from Guler, went past him and squeezed the ball home.
The goal was Mbappe’s 13th in the league this season and his 17th in 16 appearances in all competitions. He has now scored in each of his last seven matches for Real Madrid.
Valencia’s night deteriorated further with about 10 minutes remaining when Jose Gaya was sent off for a late sliding challenge on Mbappe, leaving the hosts to finish with 10 men.
