Mbappé Shines Amid China Controversy

After a controversial week, Kylian Mbappe scored from the penalty spot to give Real Madrid a 3-0 win over Racing Santander in the Spanish La Liga on Sunday.

The French forward narrowly lost out on the Ballon d’Or to Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane on Monday, and then faced criticism on social media for making a joke about former Chinese leader Mao Zedong in a video. Mbappe later apologized for the incident.

Due to the controversy, Chinese state television did not broadcast other Spanish league games, including Real Madrid’s match, this week.

Mbappe came into close contact with Matteo Prati in the 11th minute of the match at the El Sardine Maro Stadium in Santander. He scored from the controversial penalty to put Real ahead. It was the 27-year-old’s 12th goal in the league this season, ahead of Barcelona’s Rafinha with 15 goals.

Real dominated the match from the start. Jude Bellingham doubled the lead after a great pass from Arda Guler. It was the England midfielder’s 50th goal since joining Real in 2023. Then in the first half, the team’s record signing Ian Diomande scored Real’s third goal with a powerful shot from outside the D-box.

Santander tried to put some pressure on the visitors in the second half, but Real maintained control of the match. Mbappe’s shot hit the post and another chance from Bellingham was saved by Santander goalkeeper Hulen Agrezabala. A penalty for Santander was ruled out late in the match after the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) ruled out. Bellingham also had a goal ruled out for offside in injury time.

The win moves Real to third place, three points behind leaders Barcelona, ​​and is Jose Mourinho’s sixth consecutive win in all competitions.

“We were very strong in the first half and we went out with the intention of playing well. The team is constantly improving. We should have scored more goals with the chances we had,” Real manager Jose Mourinho said after the match.

On the other hand, Santander coach Jose Alberto expressed his anger after the loss, saying, “The first goal and the penalty changed the course of the entire match.”

This was Santander’s first home defeat of the season, returning to La Liga after 14 seasons.