La Liga: Mbappe Shines as 10-man Madrid Defeat Real Sociedad 2-1 - Thepodiummedia

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Real Madrid's French forward #10 Kylian Mbappe kicks the ball during the Spanish league football match between Real Sociedad and Real Madrid CF at Anoeta Stadium in San Sebastian on September 13, 2025. (Photo by ANDER GILLENEA / AFP)

Post published:September 13, 2025
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Kylian Mbappe was at his brilliant best as Real Madrid showed grit to claim a 2-1 win at Real Sociedad in La Liga on Saturday, despite playing for an hour with 10 men after Dean Huijsen’s red card.

Mbappe and Arda Guler’s first-half goals were enough for Los Blancos to maintain their 100 percent record, with Mikel Oyarzabal pulling one back for the hosts from the penalty spot.

Xabi Alonso’s side top the table on 12 points from four games, with second-placed Athletic Bilbao facing Alaves later on, while champions Barcelona host Valencia on Sunday.

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Madrid lined up with Dani Carvajal at right-back, leaving Trent Alexander-Arnold on the bench, while Fede Valverde was rested and Dani Ceballos came in.

Guler had a goal disallowed for offside early on as Los Blancos started strongly, with Real Sociedad still looking for their first win under new coach Sergio Francisco.

Mbappe broke the deadlock after 12 minutes when he sprinted on to a loose back-pass, beating two defenders for pace before producing a clinical finish for his fourth league goal this season.

Madrid’s task grew harder when Spanish centre-back Huijsen, signed from Bournemouth this summer, was dismissed for pulling back Oyarzabal as he ran towards goal.

Despite their numerical disadvantage Guler doubled Madrid’s lead before the break with a neat finish after a superb run from French superstar Mbappe, who teed him up after floating inside from the left.

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The hosts improved in the second half and won a penalty after a Carvajal handball, which Oyarzabal dispatched.

However the Basque side did not have enough to take anything from the game, with Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois twice denying Oyarzabal.

Alonso warned Madrid’s stars ahead of the match they would be picked on merit and after a frustrating afternoon Vinicius Junior was replaced by Fran Garcia with over 20 minutes remaining, as the coach tried to shut up shop against his former playing side.

Madrid held on through six minutes of stoppage time to secure their victory.

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Morak Babajide-Alabi is a graduate of Mass Communication with a Master of Arts Degree in Journalism from Napier University, Edinburgh, United Kingdom. He is an experienced Social Media practitioner with a strong passion for connecting with customers of brands.

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Ademola AKINBOLA is an author, publisher, trainer, digital marketing strategist, and a brand development specialist with nearly three decades of experience in the areas of branding, communication, corporate reputation management, business development, organizational change management, and digital marketing.

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He had a successful media practice at The Guardian, Punch and This Day.

He started his brand management career at Owena Bank as Media Relations Manager before joining Prudent Bank (now Polaris Bank) as the pioneer Head of Corporate Affairs.

The British Council appointed him as Head of Communication and Marketing to co-ordinate branding and reputation management activities at its Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt offices.

In 2007, he was recruited as the Head of Corporate Planning and Strategy for the Nigerian Aviation Handling company. He led on the branding, strategic planning and stakeholder management support function.

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In 2010, he voluntarily resigned from nacho aviance to focus on managing BrandStewards, a reputation and brand management firm he established in 2003. BrandStewards has successfully executed branding, re-branding and marketing communication projects for clients in the private and public sectors.

Ademola obtained a M.Sc. Degree in Digital Marketing & Web Analytics from Dublin Institute of Technology in 2016, and the Master of Communication Arts degree of the University of Ibadan in 1997. He had previously obtained a Higher National Diploma (with Upper Credit) in Mass Communication from Ogun State Polytechnic, Abeokuta.

He has published several articles and authored five management books.

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