Another Espi late show rescues Real Madrid

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It looked as though Madrid would leave the Estadio Manuel Martinez Valero with just a single point, offering Barcelona a chance to pull clear at the summit, after it squandered a 2-0 half-time lead.

But Espi – who netted in the final minute of his Madrid debut to clinch a 2-1 win at Espanyol on the opening matchday – repeated the trick one minute into stoppage time as Jose Mourinho breathed a huge sigh of relief.

Some wasteful finishing from Vinicius Junior was the only thing that denied Madrid an early lead, but they did hit the front in the 25th minute, as Arda Guler's curled free-kick bounced off the left post and rebounded along Matias Dituro's line before flicking in off the unfortunate Elche goalkeeper. 

Madrid had daylight eight minutes later as Yan Diomande slotted a neat pass across the area for Kylian Mbappe to tuck home, earning the Ivorian his first goal involvement in LaLiga and the Frenchman a whack on his knee from the onrushing Dituro.

Mbappe did clamber back to his feet and play on, and only the offside flag denied him his brace late in the first half, with Vinicius later passing up another big chance for 3-0.

Elche came storming back as they looked team transformed in the second half. Abiel Osorio halved the arrears in the 71st minute, redirecting his header back across Thibaut Courtois, then substitute Fer Nino found the bottom-left corner to spark wild celebrations.

There was one final twist to come as Mourinho introduced Espi in place of Trent Alexander-Arnold. And when Mbappe darted onto Jude Bellingham's ball down the left channel to square, the 21 year-old was in the right place to tap home.