Real Madrid claimed a 2-1 victory over Espanyol in the second round of La Liga's regular season at RCTC стадиум on Friday evening. Jude Bellingham opened the scoring in the ninth minute before Alex Calatrava levelled for the hosts thirty minutes in. Carlos Espi's late strike at the hour mark gave Espanyol the lead, but Real Madrid held on for all three points.
Bellingham's early goal set the tone for how the match might unfold, though Espanyol responded with characteristic resilience. Calatrava's equaliser came just before the half-hour mark and shifted momentum, earning him a yellow card alongside Vinícius Júnior in the thirty-second minute. The visitors had dominated possession but struggled to convert their advantage.
By then, the match had settled into a pattern both teams could live with. Espanyol pushed forward in the second half, bringing on substitutes at regular intervals—Carreras and Guler for Real Madrid, Riedel and Calatrava for the hosts. Espi's goal in the ninetieth minute offered a late surge, though Real Madrid's defence weathered the storm.
The statistics told a familiar story. Real Madrid controlled 63 per cent of possession and created 2.71 expected goals from fifteen attempts, while Espanyol managed 1.05 expected goals from seven shots. Many of those chances went begging for both sides, with Real Madrid's 8 shots on target producing just 2 goals and Espanyol's 3 on target yielding one.
The result keeps Real Madrid's perfect record intact at the top of the table. They sit second after three wins from three matches, accumulating 9 points. Espanyol remain in twelfth place with 3 points from their opening three games—one win, two defeats—and now face the task of building on this spirited display.