French footballer Kylian Mbappe has matched Portuguese football legend Cristiano Ronaldo’s remarkable achievement of 33 goals in his debut season with Real Madrid, further solidifying his status as a key player for the club.
Mbappe struck twice to help his side come from behind to claim a hard-fought 3-2 home win over relegation-threatened Leganes on Saturday to move the second-placed reigning champions level on points with leaders Barcelona.
Real have 63 points from 29 matches, along with Barca, who host Girona on Sunday. Third-placed Atletico Madrid dropped points in a 1-1 draw at Espanyol earlier on Saturday and are now six points off the pace with 57.
“It was [a] difficult match. After the international break it’s always difficult,” Mbappe told RMTV.
The hosts made a dominant start and opened the scoring after 32 minutes when Mbappe coolly chipped in a penalty, awarded after Oscar Rodriguez brought down Arda Guler.
However, Leganes responded almost immediately as Diego Garcia tapped in a loose ball at the far post to equalise in the following minute before Rodriguez set up Dani Raba to slot past goalkeeper Andriy Lunin in the 41st.
Real midfielder Jude Bellingham brought the scores level two minutes after the break, sliding the ball into the net after a rebound off the crossbar. Mbappe then bagged the winner with a brilliant curled free kick in the 76th minute for his second.
He played a stunning free-kick that curled into the bottom right corner from 20 yards out.
This memorable strike, a one-two with left-back Fran Garcia, marked his 33rd goal in all competitions since joining Ronaldo’s former club on a free transfer last summer, talkSport reported.
With this achievement, Mbappe has equalled the club record for the most goals in a debut season, previously set by legend Ronaldo in 2009 and 2010, and Ruud van Nistelrooy in 2006 and 2007.
Notably, Mbappe reached this milestone in just 45 matches, 10 games more than it took Ronaldo but two fewer than van Nistelrooy.
Only Chilean icon Ivan Zamorano has scored more goals in a debut season for Real Madrid, with an impressive 37 tallies in 45 appearances after joining from Sevilla in 1992.
“We know what we always have to do: win. We started well, in the opposition half, and we scored a goal. Then we didn’t play well for 20 minutes and conceded two goals,” said Mbappe.
“But we know that if we play well we’ll score and in the second half we scored two goals. We won the game and we’re very happy.
“We worked on (the set piece) a few weeks ago with the staff. I knew I could shoot this way, I saw the space. I asked the others to let me shoot and it worked out well.”
Mbappe also commented on his relationship with Ronaldo after matching his tally.
He said: “Me and Cristiano Ronaldo speak frequently. He gives me a lot of advice. I’m very happy to equal his goals in the first season, we know what he represents for all of us. But the really important thing is to WIN trophies with Real Madrid”.
