Mbappe scores again to send Real Madrid top
Kylian Mbappe continued his impressive scoring streak as his 10th goal in nine league games earned Real Madrid a 1-0 win at Getafe and sent his side back to the top of the LaLiga in a game where the host finished with nine men.
Madrid struggled to find a way past a stubborn Getafe until Allan Nyom was sent off 13 minutes from time, one minute after coming off the bench, and Mbappe scored three minutes later.
Alex Sancris was then sent off for a second booking before the end.
Madrid is on 24 points, two ahead of Barcelona and the top two will go head-to-head in next Monday's El Clasico. Getafe is 12th in the standings on 11 points.
Real manager Xabi Alonso continued his habit of rotating the starting side, leaving both Vinicius Jr and Arda Guler on the bench while handing Jude Bellingham and Rodrygo rare starts.
The game began with both sets of players standing still for 15 seconds, part of a protest organised by the Spanish Footballers' Association over LaLiga's decision to play December's match between Villarreal and Barcelona in the United States.
In reality, the match took even longer to get going.
Mbappe was a constant threat in the opening half, taking his side into the opposition area, but his own teammates often appeared to be operating on different wavelengths.
Aurelien Tchouameni's shot from distance went narrowly over and on the stroke of halftime David Alaba's powerful free kick was parried away by the keeper with Federico Valverde's follow-up effort well off target.
Getafe spent most of the opening half keeping Madrid at bay, but Sancris volleyed narrowly wide shortly before the break to fire a warning shot.
With Madrid no closer to finding the net, Vinicius replaced the unimpressive Franco Mastantuono 10 minutes after the interval and Guler made his entrance after another uneventful 10 minutes.
Nyom saw red for a foul on Vinicius and Real wasted little time in taking advantage. When Guler's defence-splitting pass found Mbappe with his back to goal, the French forward turned, took the ball into the area and smashed his shot past David Soria.
Mbappe, who has also scored five in two Champions League games, and keeper Thibaut Courtois are the two players Alonso cannot do without this season, and Courtois denied Abu Kamara in added time to prevent Getafe from getting an equaliser.
Before the top of the table clash with Barcelona, Madrid hosts Juventus on Thursday in the Champions League.
