MADRID: Real Madrid recovered from a goal down to beat Mallorca 2-1 at the Bernabeu on Saturday as the home side made light of having three goals chalked off after VAR reviews to make it three wins out of three in La Liga this season.

Earlier on Saturday, Atletico Madrid were held to a 1-1 draw at Deportivo Alaves, leaving them without a win in their first three La Liga matches.

What should have been a comfortable victory for Real left fans with their nerves jangling, however, and they needed a goalline clearance from Alvaro Carreras to secure the three points.

Kylian Mbappe had a goal overturned by VAR when he pounced to score from a superb ball by Trent Alexander-Arnold in the seventh minute, but the review found him to be marginally offside.

Mallorca took a shock lead 11 minutes later when striker Vedat Muriqi muscled his way into the middle of the penalty area at a corner to steer the ball into the net with a combination of his back and shoulder.

Real levelled in the 37th minute after a superbly-worked corner that led to Dean Huijsen teeing up 20-year-old Arda Guler to score with a close-range header.

Vinicius Jr gave his side the lead a minute later, surging forward before cutting back on to his left foot and sending a bouncing shot low into the far corner.

Without a win this season, Mallorca played a clever game and tried to hit Real on the break, but the home side had too much quality in attack, and Mbappe had another goal chalked off in first-half stoppage time.

Guler was the next to taste disappointment as his effort 10 minutes after the break was ruled out when a VAR review found him guilty of handball in the build-up, and the home side had Carreras to thank when he pulled off a tremendous goalline clearance to prevent Mallorca from equalising.

“I promised it from the day I signed here. I’m going to give it my all and contribute my part to the team,” said Carreras, who joined Real from Benfica in July. “The dream nights are starting to happen. I’m super-happy here, the important thing was the three points.”

Real coach Xabi Alonso said he goes into the international break pleased with how his side are playing.

“The results are important and they reflect the line you want,” he told reporters. “The work for now is to make sure we all think it’s the right path.

“And now the next block, after the break, we start with the Champions League and we have to refine things but it’s normal, I’m happy.”

Elsewhere, for the third consecutive game, Diego Simeone’s Atletico spurned a lead to drop points.

His son Giuliano Simeone sent the team ahead early on but Carlos Vicente levelled from the spot for Alaves.

Atletico overhauled their squad in the summer and the coach said he thinks it will take his team some time to click, with results reflecting that.

“We have to keep working, to trust in my players, we have a team that will do better than what we have been doing,” Simeone told Movistar.

Simeone said he was not worried about the results but more his team’s performance after a defeat and two draws from three games.

“I’m not looking at the points, the important thing is that the team improves and as a consequence of that, the points will improve too,” he added.

Rojiblancos substitute Antoine Griezmann struck the post from close range in the second half but Atletico were unable to break through.

“We have to do better, we have to do more,” Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak told Movistar.

“We’re angry and it leaves a bad taste in the mouth, we need more points and it’s our fault.”

Published in Dawn, September 1st, 2025