European football: Mbappé penalty helps Real Madrid stroll to sixth straight win

Kylian Mbappé moved on from a tumultuous week by scoring a penalty to help Real Madrid win 3-0 at Racing Santander on Sunday.

The French forward narrowly lost out on the Ballon d’Or to Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane on Monday and then had to apologise after a social media storm following a video in which he joked about the former Chinese leader Mao Zedong.

Real Madrid’s match, along with other Spanish fixtures this weekend, was not broadcast by Chinese state television because of the fallout.

Jude Bellingham and Yan Diomandé were also on target to keep third-placed Madrid within three points of the La Liga leaders, Barcelona, who thrashed Alavés 6-1 on Saturday.

José Mourinho’s side have won six straight games across all competitions and are a point behind Atlético Madrid, who beat Levante 2-0.

Gennaro Gattuso’s Lazio consolidated their position at the top of Serie A with a 2-1 victory over Cagliari, nudging ahead of Inter Milan after the two clubs had started the weekend level on points.

Lazio made a poor start as Cagliari took the lead through M’Bala Nzola in the 20th minute before goals in either half from Gustav Isaksen and Andrea Pinamonti gave them a sixth straight Serie A win.

Como moved back into the top four as they eked out a 1-0 victory at home over bottom side Venezia on Sunday for a fifth consecutive victory across all competitions.

The hosts dominated, but needed a penalty to find the back of the net. The Como captain, Lucas Da Cunha, converted in the 43rd minute for the French international’s first goal of the season. “This is the type of match we found hard to win last season,” Da Cunha told DAZN.

Later on Sunday in Italy, Juventus host Napoli in a game between two sides in danger of getting left behind, eighth v seventh at the start of the day. In the Basque derby, Real Sociedad need to win in Bilbao against Athletic Club if they are to keep in touch with the top four. In France, Paris FC host Monaco in a game both need to win to keep in touch with Paris Saint-Germain, who won 5-1 at Le Havre on Friday.