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Real Madrid pulls off late La Liga win after squandering 2-goal lead at Elche. Mbappé scores again

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Azzoni, T. (2026, September 15). Real Madrid pulls off late La Liga win after squandering 2-goal lead at Elche. Mbappé scores again. Toronto Star. https://www.thestar.com/sports/soccer/real-madrid-pulls-off-late-la-liga-win-after-squandering-2-goal-lead-at-elche-mbapp-scores-again/article_ddefc6ca-0ecd-59f8-9003-8a2d7a6e4331.html

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

Toronto Star · collected 2026-09-15 · by Tales Azzoni

Quick Summary

In a dramatic turn of events in La Liga, Real Madrid managed to secure a 3-2 victory against Elche after squandering an early two-goal lead. Kylian Mbappé scored the decisive goal assisted by Jude Bellingham near the end of stoppage time, which moved Real Madrid level on points with Barcelona for first place. Coach José Mourinho praised his team's resilience in overcoming difficulties during the match. Meanwhile, there was controversy as some players wore shirts partially covering a message in support of Ceuta, leading to questions about their reasoning post-game.
Written by AI on 2026-09-16, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

On Tuesday, Real Madrid secured a crucial 3-2 win against Elche in La Liga, despite squandering a two-goal advantage. The match turned around dramatically when Elche scored twice late in regulation to level the score at 2-2. In stoppage time, Carlos Espí's goal gave Real Madrid the victory after a key assist from Kylian Mbappé and a breakaway initiated by Jude Bellingham. This win keeps Real Madrid tied on points with league leader Barcelona, setting up an opportunity for Real to regain the top spot when they face promoted team Racing Santander on Wednesday. Coach José Mourinho praised his team's resilience in overcoming adversity during the match.

Written for “La Liga Soccer Results” on 2026-11-01, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 La Liga Soccer Results
Sports · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 3% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Toronto Star
Hedges 0 of 15 claims Outlet record 64/100
“The articles describe different matches between Real Madrid and other teams on separate dates.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
29
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
3%
1 of 29 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
64/100
Toronto Star's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Sports
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-16 · source text last changed 2026-09-16 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Toronto Star · 10920 article(s) · 28 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 28 correction(s)
2026-10-26
Correction
2026-10-24
Correction
2026-10-07
Correction
2026-09-24
Correction

Who wrote this

Tales Azzoni
12 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 “Real Madrid C.F. wishes to express its apologies to the Chinese people for any discomfort that may have been caused by the recent words of our player Kylian Mbappé,” the club said in a statement.
🔮 A win for Barcelona would’ve given the Catalan club a nine-point gap to Madrid, and allowed it to become the first team to win its opening 10 La Liga matches.
🔮 Madrid’s Vinícius will serve the first of a four-game suspension later Sunday for pulling the hair of a Villarreal player and aggressively confronting the referee in the previous round.
🔮 It wasn’t the result we wanted, we could have equalized but we didn’t and now we look forward to the next matches.”
🔮 Barcelona’s defense will include hosting Arsenal in a rematch of the 2025 final won by the London club.
🔮 “We could skip the news conference, because the story of the match is right here (on the photos),” Mourinho said.
🔮 After Barcelona’s biggest win of the season, Raphinha said he and his teammates are hungry for goals and will keep pushing for more.
🔮 Rayo Vallecano triumphs in Butarque again Rayo Vallecano beat Espanyol 2-1 with first-half goals by Álvaro García and Adria Pedrosa in what may have been its last match before returning home to Vallecas Stadium.
🔮 MADRID (AP) — Changes are expected to the new Madring track next year after its lackluster debut at the Spanish Grand Prix this weekend.
🔮 There were a few other incidents in the final practice session, with Alexander Albon brushing the wall and his Williams teammate Carlos Sainz just barely avoiding hitting the barrier after not being able to turn on a corner.
Also by Tales Azzoni
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 12 articles by Tales Azzoni →

Topics

Elche MADRID Real Madrid Spanish Valencia

Subjects

MADRID GPE · 6× Mbappé PERSON · 6× Valencia ORG · 4× Real Madrid ORG · 3× Barcelona ORG · 2× Bellingham PERSON · 2× Elche ORG · 2× Racing Santander ORG · 2× Roberto Fernández PERSON · 2× Spanish NORP · 2×

Narrative

Bellingham used a neat long touch to get past an opponent near midfield and fed Mbappé in a breakaway into the area, and the France star quickly set up Espí’s close-range score to give Madrid the victory and move the Spanish powerhouse even on points with Barcelona.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-16
🔮 Rayo Vallecano triumphs in Butarque again Rayo Vallecano beat Espanyol 2-1 with first-half goals by Álvaro García and Adria Pedrosa in what may have been its last match before returning home to Vallecas Stadium.

Claims (29 extracted, 1 hedged)

MADRID (AP) — Carlos Espí scored in stoppage time after a nifty move by Jude Bellingham and an assist by Kylian Mbappé to help Real Madrid salvage a 3-2 win at Elche in the Spanish league after it relinquished a two-goal lead on Tuesday. asserted
it → score → Tuesday
Bellingham used a neat long touch to get past an opponent near midfield and fed Mbappé in a breakaway into the area, and the France star quickly set up Espí’s close-range score to give Madrid the victory and move the Spanish powerhouse even on points with Barcelona. asserted
star → use → Barcelona
The defending champion can regain the lead when it hosts promoted Racing Santander on Wednesday. asserted
it → defend → Wednesday
“We went from having it easy to losing control,” Real Madrid coach José Mourinho said. asserted
Mourinho → go → control
“But in the difficulty of the moment, facing the pressure of losing points, the team reacted and won the match, which in the end is the most important thing. asserted
which → face → end
The good thing is that nobody gets bored when Real Madrid plays. asserted
Madrid → get → ?
Madrid had taken the lead against Elche with an own-goal by goalkeeper Matías Dituro in the 25th after the ball ricocheted off him following a well-struck free kick taken by Arda Guler. asserted
ball → take → Guler
Mbappé added to the lead by scoring from close range after an assist by Yan Diomande in the 33rd. asserted
Mbappé → add → 33rd
Abiel Osorio pulled the hosts closer with a header in the 71st and Fer Niño netted the equalizer in the 83rd. asserted
Niño → pull → 83rd
There was a bit of a scare immediately after Mbappé scored as he stayed on the ground in visible pain, but he eventually returned to the field after being attended by Madrid doctors. asserted
he → be → doctors
The goal moved him to seven goals in six league matches, one goal more than Lamine Yamal, Raphinha, Sergio Camello and Roberto Fernández. asserted
goal → move → Yamal
He had a goal disallowed for offside just before halftime on Tuesday. asserted
goal → have → Tuesday
Bellingham came into the match by replacing Guler in the 68th. asserted
Bellingham → come → 68th
Mbappé and Vinícius avoid T-shirt asserted
Mbappé → avoid → shirt
Players from both clubs wore t-shirts showing words of support for Ceuta as they came onto the field before the match. asserted
they → wear → match
But Madrid players Mbappé, Vinícius Júnior and Ibrahima Konaté wore the shirt only halfway down their chest, without pulling them down, and obscuring some of the words on it. asserted
Mbappé → wear → it
Mbappé and Vinícius removed their shirts before they saluted the other players and the referees. asserted
they → remove → players
They had not immediately explained why they did that. asserted
they → explain → that
In July, tens of thousands of migrants breached the frontier between Spain’s North African territory of Ceuta and neighboring Morocco. asserted
thousands → breach → Ceuta
Valencia wins after shake-up Valencia won 1-0 at Alaves to end a four-game losing streak and a winless start to the season. asserted
Valencia → win → season
The string of poor results had led to the firing of coach Carlos Corberán and soccer CEO Ron Gourlay this weekend. asserted
string → lead → Corberán
It then appointed Braulio Vázquez as its new sporting director and named B-team coach Óscar Sánchez as an interim manager. asserted
It → appoint → manager
Luis Rioja scored a 78th-minute winner for Valencia, which had been outscored 10-1 so far. asserted
which → score → Valencia
Valencia fans had been protesting and called players “mercenaries” after the 5-0 home loss to Barcelona. asserted
fans → protest → Barcelona
They have long called for the exit of owner Peter Lim. asserted
They → call → Lim
Rayo Vallecano triumphs in Butarque again Rayo Vallecano beat Espanyol 2-1 with first-half goals by Álvaro García and Adria Pedrosa in what may have been its last match before returning home to Vallecas Stadium. uncertain
what → triumph → Stadium
It was Rayo’s third home game played at Butarque Stadium — which belongs to second-tier club Leganes — because of unsafe conditions at Vallecas. asserted
which → play → Vallecas
It also beat Racing Santander 3-2 and drew Alaves 1-1 at Butarque. asserted
It → beat → Butarque
Roberto Fernández scored for Espanyol in the second half for his sixth goal in six matches. asserted
Fernández → score → matches
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