In-form striker Kylian Mbappe netted again as Real Madrid beat Espanyol 2-0 on Saturday to extend their lead at the top of La Liga.

Xabi Alonso’s Madrid have won all five of their opening league fixtures and French superstar Mbappe has netted five goals in the top flight.

Eder Militao opened the scoring with a screamer from distance after 22 minutes and Mbappe buried the second from outside the box early in the second half.

Madrid are five points clear of second-place champions Barcelona, who host Getafe on Sunday.

England international Jude Bellingham made a late appearance as a substitute in the final stages, his first since undergoing shoulder surgery in the summer.

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Mbappe, who netted twice from the penalty spot in midweek as Madrid started their Champions League campaign with a win over Marseille, helped Alonso’s team maintain their 100 per cent record across all competitions.

His goal effectively killed the game after Militao’s header sent Madrid ahead.

Alonso brought Vinicius Junior back into the side and gave young striker Gonzalo Garcia a rare start in an attacking line-up.

Espanyol have not beaten Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu since 1996 but have started this season well, arriving in the capital third.

However, their visit to face Los Blancos was a reality check and Madrid were comfortably on top throughout.

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Despite their dominance, it took a ferocious drive into the top left corner from long range by centre-back Militao to break the deadlock.

Mbappe fired narrowly wide after good work by Vinicius before half-time.

The Brazilian has been benched on a couple of occasions by Alonso and is still playing below his best, although he set up Mbappe for the second.

After driving forward with the ball Vinicius laid it off to Mbappe, who flashed a shot past Marko Dmitrovic at the near post from range.

Vinicius hit the post after Espanyol’s Serbian goalkeeper made a fine double save from Mbappe.

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Alonso brought on Bellingham and Eduardo Camavinga for their first games of the season in the final stages of a comfortable afternoon for Real Madrid.

Earlier Levante romped to a 4-0 win at Girona, who finished with nine men.

The Catalan minnows, who finished third in the 2023/24 campaign to reach the Champions League, are bottom, without a win this season.

“After five weeks we are the worst team in the league and all we can do is work hard,” said coach Michel Sanchez.

“I have to improve this team and I will do it. It will be tricky to get out of this situation, but we’re not giving up the ghost.”

AFP

Ecuadoran soccer player Jonathan Gonzalez was killed on Friday in what was the third murder of an athlete in the South American country since the start of September, according to police.

Authorities said the 31-year-old — nicknamed “Speedy” Gonzalez — suffered “gunshot wounds” in an attack inside a house in the coastal province of Esmeraldas, which borders Colombia and is plagued by rival drug gangs.

Police did not specify a motive for the crime.

A second victim, who was not identified, died while being rushed to hospital.

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Ecuador is nestled between the world’s biggest cocaine producers, Colombia and Peru, and has become the departure point for 70 percent of the world’s supply of the drug.

With an influx of gangs, the homicide rate rose from six per 100,000 people in 2018 to a record high of 47 in 2023, before dipping to 38 last year.

Two players from the second-division team Exapromo Costa FC, Maicol Valencia and Leandro Yepez, were shot in an armed assault in the southwestern coastal city of Manta on September 10.

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Valencia died in the gunfire, while Yepez succumbed to his injuries two days later.

The club said the players were victims of an attack directed at another target.

A player for the second-division team 22 de Julio FC, Jonathan Gonzalez previously played to Olimpia in Paraguay and Leon in Mexico.

The Ecuadorian Football Federation and local clubs expressed condolences to the footballer’s family.

Nigeria’s Super Eagles have slipped one place in the latest FIFA World Rankings, falling from 44th to 45th globally while maintaining sixth position on the African continent.

The new rankings, released via FIFA’s official X handle on Thursday, reflect the team’s continued struggles under Coach Eric Chelle amid a stuttering 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign.

This marks a second consecutive decline after the Nigerian side dropped from 43rd to 44th in August and also slipped out of the top five nations in Africa on the back of poor outings in recent international matches.

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Despite Nigeria’s setback, several African teams made progress. Morocco remains the continent’s highest-ranked side, sitting 11th in the world after winning eight of their last nine matches. Senegal, Egypt, Algeria and Côte d’Ivoire complete Africa’s top five.

Lesotho slipped to 153rd place, while Benin Republic, Nigeria’s upcoming opponent, climbed to 93rd. South Africa’s Bafana Bafana, who held the Super Eagles to a 1-1 draw in June, rose to 55th, strengthening their bid for World Cup qualification.

Zimbabwe had the biggest slide down the ranking table, dropping nine places to 125th position in the world.

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The rankings highlight Nigeria’s struggle to regain form on the global stage as key rivals continue to surge ahead.

Similarly, the Super Falcons of Nigeria remain 36th best in the world], while the Spanish female national team replaced the USA at the top of the women’s ranking.