Bellingham Shines as Real Madrid Sweep Malaga Aside

Jude Bellingham opened the scoring with a superb individual effort before an Alfonso Herrero own goal and a Kylian Mbappe strike gave Madrid a three-goal advantage inside the opening half-hour. Substitute Arda Guler completed the scoring in stoppage time.

The victory gave Jose Mourinho three consecutive league wins since beginning his second spell in charge of Real Madrid, following earlier victories over Espanyol and Real Sociedad.

Madrid controlled possession from the opening minutes and nearly found an immediate breakthrough when Vinicius Junior picked out Trent Alexander-Arnold, whose half-volley narrowly missed the target.

Malaga remained organised through the opening stages, but their resistance was broken in spectacular fashion after 19 minutes.

Bellingham collected possession around 25 yards from goal, held off Angel Recio and drove into the penalty area before beating Rafita and firing across goal into the bottom corner.

VAR checked Malaga's complaints over an incident involving Recio in the build-up but allowed the goal to stand.

The England midfielder was at the heart of Madrid's attacking play throughout the first half.

Seven minutes after the opener, Los Blancos doubled their advantage following another dangerous attack.

Brahim Diaz carried the ball forward before finding Mbappe inside the area. The France international's effort was parried by Herrero, before Bellingham headed the rebound goalwards.

Carlos Puga attempted to clear but the ball struck Herrero and crossed the line, resulting in an own goal for the Malaga goalkeeper.

Alexander-Arnold received possession on the right and delivered an excellent first-time cross into the penalty area, where Mbappe arrived to sweep the ball beyond Herrero.

The goal made it 3-0 after only 30 minutes and effectively placed the contest beyond Malaga.

Malaga produced their best first-half opportunity in the 42nd minute when a short corner found Rafa Rodriguez unmarked inside the area, but his effort struck the base of the post.

Madrid nevertheless entered half-time three goals ahead, with Malaga yet to register a shot on target.

Mbappe forced another save from Herrero before Bellingham came close to scoring his second when he drove into the penalty area and smashed a left-footed effort against the outside of the post.

Alexander-Arnold also tested Herrero, while Madrid repeatedly threatened through their quick combinations involving Vinicius, Mbappe and Bellingham.

Malaga were briefly awarded a penalty in the 85th minute after the ball appeared to strike Yan Diomande's arm following a free-kick.

Referee Juan Martinez was advised to review the incident on the pitch-side monitor and quickly reversed his original decision, leaving Madrid's clean sheet intact.

Bellingham departed to a standing ovation in the 87th minute after another influential performance, with Guler replacing him for the closing stages.

Madrid launched another rapid counter-attack in the first minute of stoppage time after Dean Huijsen won possession.

Vinicius carried the ball towards the byline before cutting it back for Guler, who swept home from close range to complete the 4-0 victory.

The result also represented Madrid's second successive four-goal performance after their 4-1 victory over Real Sociedad five days earlier.

Bellingham was again one of Mourinho's outstanding performers, while Mbappe continued his prolific start after scoring a hat-trick against Sociedad in the previous round.

Madrid finish the weekend with three victories from their opening three LaLiga matches and sit at the top of the early standings, although Barcelona have an opportunity to move above them when they face Rayo Vallecano.

For Malaga, the defeat leaves them still searching for their first league victory since earning promotion, having opened the season with a defeat to Atletico Madrid and a draw against Deportivo La Coruna.