Real Madrid 1-0 Osasuna: Mbappé penalty seals opening day win for Xabi Alonso’s side | OneFootball

Kylian Mbappé opened his LaLiga account for Real Madrid with a composed second-half penalty, securing a narrow 1–0 win over Osasuna in Xabi Alonso’s first league game in charge.

Despite dominating possession and chances throughout the evening, Los Blancos were made to work hard for their opening day victory at the Santiago Bernabéu, with Osasuna defending resolutely and goalkeeper Sergio Herrera keeping the scoreline respectable.

As it happened

Real Madrid dominated the first half but failed to turn their superiority into a goal. Despite enjoying over 75% of the possession, Alonso’s side struggled to carve open clear chances against a compact Osasuna backline. Tchouaméni and Mbappé both came close from distance, while Arda Güler fired just over late in the half. At the break, the match remained goalless.

The breakthrough came six minutes after the restart. Mbappé showed brilliant agility to skip past Juan Cruz, who brought the Frenchman down in the box. The 25-year-old stepped up and coolly slotted the resulting penalty into the bottom-right corner, sending Herrera the wrong way.

Osasuna were forced to come out more after conceding, but found it difficult to trouble Courtois. Substitute Moi Gómez injected some energy down the left, while Lucas Torró and Moncayola tried to gain midfield control – but Madrid remained largely untroubled.

Debutant Franco Mastantuono added a late spark for the hosts, and Güler continued to impress with his sharp passing and intelligent movement. Mbappé, however, picked up a yellow card in stoppage time for a tactical foul to stop a counter-attack.

In stoppage time, Madrid slowed the tempo and frustrated their visitors with controlled possession. Osasuna’s hopes of a dramatic equaliser vanished completely in the 94th minute, when Abel Bretones was shown a straight red card for a reckless off-the-ball elbow on Gonzalo García to halt a counter-attack.

Alonso’s side held firm in the closing moments to start their LaLiga campaign with a deserved but hard-earned three points.

The lineups

RMA: Courtois; Alexander-Arnold, Militão, Huijsen, Carreras; Valverde, Tchouaméni, Güler; Díaz, Mbappé, Vinícius