Mbappé was the star of the show on Saturday night. He, together with an outstanding Courtois, who kept the team in the game with some great saves, were responsible for putting Real Madrid in the lead. Villarreal started the game by laying siege to the white area and it wasn’t long before they took the lead through Foyth. The Whites’ response was swift and a brace from the Frenchman turned the scoreboard around.
The first of the goals came after a tremendous play by Brahim, who slipped into the opposition area, but his lob attempt was well saved by Diego Conde. However, Mbappé was quick on the rebound, firing in a shot to equalize. As for the second, it came from a back pass from Lucas Vázquez on his arrival in the opposition area, Gueye failed to clear, allowing a ball to pass through to Mbappé who put it away with a powerful, precise shot.
Two goals that came after several dull games and left a question hanging in the air. Does he play better without Vinicius? There is one key fact: 10 of the Frenchman’s 20 goals in La Liga came without the Brazilian on the pitch.
Mbappé tightens the fight for the pichichi
Kylian Mbappé was deadly again. With two goals in fifteen minutes against Villarreal, the Frenchman is tightening the fight for the Pichichi. He now has twenty goals in La Liga, just one behind Robert Lewandowski (21), who leads the ranking of top scorers in the domestic competition and who is still playing this Sunday and could extend his lead.
Mbappé: “If I score many more goals than Ronaldo and Cristiano, it doesn’t mean I’m better”
Mbappé has already scored 31 goals this season and in the month of March he has already achieved the third best debut by a striker in the history of Real Madrid. The Frenchman has already scored the 30 goals that Ronaldo scored in 02/03 and is two short of the 33 that Cristiano scored in 09/10. The French player was asked about this after the match against Villarreal.
“They are legends who have defined an era, but in the end they are numbers, if I score many more goals than Ronaldo and Cristiano it doesn’t mean I’m better, the most important thing is to help and win titles, scoring goals is important but it’s only worthwhile if we win La Liga, the Copa and the Champions League,” the striker told Real Madrid Televisión.