Gareth Bale responded in style to his critics with a fine finish as Real Madrid got back to winning ways with a 3-1 win at Real Sociedad on Sunday.
Borja Mayoral rewarded a bright start by Real with his first Madrid goal before Sociedad’s Kevin Rodrigues scored at both ends to give the visitor a 2-1 half-time lead.
And Bale secured the three points as he sped past Rodrigues and dinked the ball over Geronimo Rulli for just his second goal of the season on the hour mark.
Victory moves the European champion up to fourth and within four points of leader Barcelona.
Without the suspended Cristiano Ronaldo, as he completed a five-game ban, and injured Karim Benzema, Zinedine Zidane handed 20-year-old Mayoral a shock start up front.
And the Frenchman’s faith was rewarded inside 20 minutes when Mayoral swept home a loose ball with a classy finish from close range.
Mayoral’s strike meant Madrid has now matched a world record of scoring in 73 consecutive games set by Pele’s Santos in the 1960s.
However, the visitors’ joy lasted just nine minutes as Rodrigues levelled thanks to a blunder from Keylor Navas.
Rodrigues fired Alvaro Odriozola’s cross towards goal on the volley, but the Real ‘keeper should have made a comfortable stop rather than letting the ball slip under his grasp.In the Bundesliga, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored twice in a minute as Borussia Dortmund went back atop of the Bundesliga on Sunday after a 5-0 hammering of Cologne, which fumed over a controversial goal.
After losing at Tottenham Hotspur in midweek in the Champions League, Dortmund needed just three minutes to take the lead at home.
Winger Andrey Yarmolenko fired in a cross which was headed home by fellow new-signing Maximilian Philipp.
On the stroke of half-time, Cologne goalkeeper Timo Horn fumbled a cross and defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos tapped home the loose ball to make it 2-0 at the break.
Aubameyang slotted home a penalty after the VAR spotted a hand-ball on 59 minutes and just 58 seconds later the Gabon striker bagged his second from a Lukasz Piszczek’s pass.
Philipp then grabbed his second of the game with a deft chip to cap three Dortmund goals in 10 minutes.
Meanwhile in Serie A, Teenage forward Pietro Pellegri scored twice but it was not enough to prevent his Genoa side from losing 3-2 at home to Lazio.
The 16-year-old became the youngest player to score multiple goals in a match in Europe’s top five leagues this century.
The results:
La Liga: Real Sociedad 1 (Rodrigues 28) lost to Real Madrid 3 (Mayoral 19, Rodrigues 36-og, Bale 61); Girona 0 lost to Sevilla 1 (Muriel 69); Las Palmas 1 (Remy 87) bt Athletic Bilbao 0.
Bundesliga: Borussia Dortmund 5 (Philipp 3, 69, Sokratis 45+2, Aubameyang 59, 60) bt Cologne 0.
Serie A: Genoa 2 (Pellegri 57, 73) lost to Lazio 3 (Bastos 13, Immobile 70, 82); Chievo 1 (Bastien 52) drew with Atalanta 1 (Gomez 85-pen).