ELCHE: Jude Bellingham scored in the final moments to help Real Madrid achieve a 2-2 tie against Elche on Sunday, moving his team to the top of La Liga by one point.
Xabi Alonso's team faced difficulties against their mid-table rivals in an engaging match where Madrid managed to come back twice.
Aleix Febas scored to put the home team in the lead, but Dean Huijsen equalized for the top-of-the-table side. Then, Bellingham netted from close range after Alvaro Rodriguez sent Elche back into the lead.
Barcelona, finishing in second place, narrowed Madrid's advantage by two points during the weekend.thrashed Athletic Bilbao 4-0on Saturday in their initial game back at Camp Nou.
"It's football — after starting off with good momentum, we've had some outcomes that aren't favorable, but we are clear about our goals," Alonso said to journalists.
We are not content because our desire is to always come out victorious.
Alonso provided Rodrygo Goes with a unique opportunity to start in the attacking line, while keeping Vinicius Junior on the bench. The manager also handed Trent Alexander-Arnold his first starting position since August.
The English player was sidelined for several weeks due to an injury and has still not regained his performance level after moving to Liverpool during the summer.
Alexander-Arnold shared some responsibility for Febas's goal, as the midfielder managed to get past him and score the opening goal in the second half.
Elche made an impression against Barcelona a few weeks back and provided Madrid with a challenging evening at the Martinez Valero stadium.
Real Madrid's goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois executed a great early stop to prevent Andre da Silva from scoring following a pass from Hector Fort.
A forward was part of an unfortunate event earlier in the day during Real Madrid's annual general meeting, when the club mistakenly showed his image in a tribute honoring former Liverpool player Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva, who both passed away in a car accident in July.
Former Barcelona goalkeeper Inaki Pena prevented Kylian Mbappe from scoring after the French player advanced towards goal, and later blocked the French star's volley during Madrid's most promising opportunity of the first half.
Elche surprised Madrid in the initial stages of the second half with a smooth maneuver to go ahead.
German Valera's remarkable backheel enabled Febas to run past Alexander-Arnold and fire a shot across the goal, past Courtois and into the net.
'Clear foul'
Alonso opted to bring on Vinicius and young forward Gonzalo Garcia. Alexander-Arnold found some redemption through his role in Madrid's equalizer.
His cross was blocked by a defender and went behind for a corner. Alexander-Arnold sent it in, and Bellingham headed it towards Huijsen, who scored with a powerful strike.
Elche regained the lead as Rodriguez struck a strong shot from outside the box, catching Courtois off guard.
Nevertheless, three minutes later, Madrid tied the score once more, as Mbappe barely managed to keep the ball in play for Bellingham to score from very close range.
The English midfielder was in the news in his home country earlier in the week following his dissatisfaction with being substituted by the national team coach, Thomas Tuchel.
Bellingham didn't perform at his usual level against Elche but played a role in both Madrid goals, showcasing his potential to impact the game inside the box despite being relatively subdued otherwise.
Elche were dissatisfied when Vinicius made contact with goalkeeper Pena prior to Bellingham's goal, resulting in the defender sustaining a nosebleed.
Pena himself mentioned that the conflict was simply a part of the game, but his coach Eder Sarabia was extremely upset.
"It's a clear foul, definitely," said Sarabia, who mentioned he was not satisfied with just one point following his team's strong performance, even though they ended up with 10 players after Victor Chust received a second yellow card late in the game.