Now 38 games undefeated in La Liga, Vinicius Jr. leads Real Madrid to a thrilling comeback victory against Espanyol.

A "much faster" Real Madrid overcame a 1-0 deficit to defeat Espanyol 4-1 on Saturday, pulling one point behind La Liga leaders Barcelona thanks to the game-winning contribution of Vinicius Junior. Even though his team took a while to gel against the tenacious Catalans, coach Carlo Ancelotti was pleased with his team's performance after they had struggled to rediscover their best form this season. After starting the game as a substitute for Thibaut Courtois, Brazil's Vinicius scored himself to complete Madrid's comeback after the visitors had taken the lead early in the second half thanks to an own goal by the latter.

Soon later, Vinicius took over after Dani Carvajal pulled one back for Madrid. Kylian Mbappe scored a late penalty to give the team a four-game winning streak.

With five wins out of five games under their belt, Hansi Flick's Barcelona will visit fourth-place Villarreal on Sunday in an attempt to reclaim their four-point advantage.

"I thought it was a good game, (the players) reacted well after Espanyol's goal, we played much better, having more chances and I am happy," Ancelotti told the press.

Although Madrid hasn't played at its best lately, the Italian was impressed because this performance was better than their previous ones.

"We played much faster, touching the ball quicker up front, with some better movement," said Ancelotti.

"Mobility is a very important weapon... bit by bit we're returning to our best version."

With this dominating victory, Madrid won 38 straight La Liga games without losing; their previous league loss occurred against Atletico Madrid in September 2023, less than a year earlier.

Madrid captain Luka Modric stated, "That says a lot, not losing games in so many weeks is really nice, but we have to continue."

"It's quality, character, commitment from the team, everyone is ready when called on... those are the key factors."

With Mbappe constantly involved and chasing his sixth goal of the season overall, Madrid had a firm hold on the first half but were unable to break through.

Among other stops, Espanyol keeper Joan Garcia produced a wonderful save at his near post to block the France captain's shot from a tight angle.

Mbappe was booked for his increasingly irate protests after a ruling was made against him.

In eight games this season, Madrid has only managed one goal in the first half, but on this particular occasion, they were creating plenty of opportunities.

Early in the second half, Carlos Romero's effort for the promoted visitors went just wide of the mark, although the most of play was in the opposite direction.

The visitors' goal in the 54th minute, which came about after Courtois badly deflected a cross from Jofre Carreras into his own net, surprised Madrid.

Chic return

Vinicius was substituted by Ancelotti right away, but it was Carvajal who tied the score four minutes later, tapping in on the rebound after Bellingham's cross eluded the previously faultless Garcia.

As Espanyol's defence gave way, Vinicius set up Rodrygo for the second goal with a magnificent cross made with the outside of his boot.

In order to clinch a commanding victory, Bappe selflessly let Vinicius through on goal to score the third. The former Paris Saint-Germain player then scored a late penalty himself.

It was Mbappe's fourth La Liga goal of the year, matching Robert Lewandowski of Barcelona as the league's top scorer.

Romero brought Endrick down after he surged into the box, earning Endrick the spot-kick.

The Brazil striker, 18, has not yet made a start for the team, and Ancelotti claimed he had to be "unfair" to him.

"On one hand it's unfair because he's training very well, but on the other it's that we have Rodrygo, Mbappe and Vinicius up front, you have to be a bit patient," he stated.

Somewhere else On Saturday, 13th, Valencia defeated Girona 2-0 to capture their first victory of the season.

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The Catalan team has now lost three straight games, most recently on Wednesday when they lost 1-0 at PSG in their Champions League opener.