Real Madrid were rescued by a dramatic late Kylian Mbappe penalty as they scraped past Rayo Vallecano 2-1 on Sunday.
Los Blancos delivered a largely uninspiring display at the Santiago Bernabeu, but Mbappe’s spot-kick deep into second-half stoppage time ensured they stayed within a point of La Liga leaders Barcelona.
Vinicius Jr was also on the scoresheet in a win that owed more to fortune than fluency.
Madrid looked off the pace from the opening whistle and were nearly punished early on when Ilias Akhomach squandered a golden chance, dragging his effort wide despite having plenty of space inside the box.
Their problems were compounded moments later when Jude Bellingham was forced off with a suspected hamstring injury.
Against the run of play, Carlo Ancelotti’s side found the breakthrough. Vinicius Jr created room on the edge of the area and bent a fine strike into the top-right corner.
Madrid threatened sporadically thereafter, Brahim Díaz fired wide and a dangerous Mbappe cut-back narrowly evaded its target, but the hosts failed to fully assert control and went into halftime holding a fragile lead.
Rayo Vallecano made Madrid pay after the restart. Jorge de Frutos slipped in ahead of Aurélien Tchouaméni to level the score, finishing calmly beneath Thibaut Courtois.
The visitors nearly completed the turnaround when Andrei Rațiu burst through on goal, only for Courtois to race off his line and keep Madrid alive.
At the other end, Mbappe spurned a clear chance after rounding the goalkeeper, rattling the crossbar, while Eduardo Camavinga also came agonisingly close, his header grazing the outside of the post.
Madrid’s reprieve arrived late in dramatic fashion. With a controversial nine minutes added on, Nobel Mendy’s clumsy challenge in the area gifted the hosts a penalty in the 98th minute.
Mbappe stepped up and calmly converted, sparing Madrid’s blushes and sealing a hard-fought, if unconvincing, victory.
