Mbappé stars as Real Madrid see off Rayo Vallecano

Kylian Mbappé continued his hot start to the season, with two goals and an assist as Real Madrid got back to winning ways in LaLiga with a 4-1 victory over Rayo Vallecano on Saturday.

At the end of a week in which he made clear his belief that this year's Ballon d'Or should be headed his way, Mbappé highlighted his credentials.

The France forward opened the scoring with a 14th-minute penalty following a foul Álvaro Carreras.

Three minutes later he assisted Carreras with a neat lay off to make it 2-0 and become the first Madrid player with goal and assist in the opening 17 minutes of a LaLiga game at the Bernabéu since James Rodríguez in January 2016.

Jude Bellingham extended Madrid's lead to 3-0 before halftime but coach José Mourinho is unlikely to be best pleased with Madrid's second-half performance, which allowed Sergio Camello to reduce Rayo's arrears in the 51st minute.

But Madrid and Mbappé would have the last word. The World Cup's all-time top scorer feasted on a pass from Arda Güler before drilling a low shot into the net in the first minute of stoppage time.

It was Mbappé's seventh goal in six games in all competition this season and puts him top of the LaLiga scoring charts with six.

He also extends his lead for most multi-goal games in LaLiga (15) since joining Madrid ahead of the 2024-25 last season. Next on the list is Barcelona's Raphinha, with 11.

Madrid suffered their first defeat of the campaign last week when they were beaten by Real Betis before they saw off Inter Milan in the Champions League on Tuesday.