Madrid held by Las Palmas as Mbappe's Liga goal drought continues

Real Madrid needed a second-half Vinicius Junior penalty to avoid a shock defeat at Las Palmas, but were still held to a 1-1 draw which leaves them four points off the pace in La Liga.

A fifth-minute goal from Alberto Moleiro – fired low past Thibaut Courtois after good hold-up play from Oli McBurnie – gave the hosts an early lead and McBurnie nearly made it 2-0 five minutes later.

Jasper Cillessen produced a great save to deny Fede Valverde from a free-kick and until midway through the second half that was the closest lacklustre Madrid got. Then they were awarded a penalty for handball.

Vinicius dispatched the spot kick to make it 1-1 and that was how it finished, with an anticipated siege of the home side’s goal not occurring and Las Palmas went the closest to winning it when they had a goal disallowed for offside.

Madrid are now fifth on five points, but 35 games undefeated in the league. Las Palmas sit 16th.

Three La Liga games without a goal is not a major drought, expect perhaps if you are Mbappe and arrived with the expectations and fanfare he did.

He huffed and puffed tonight, taking nine shots and moving all across the front line – plus dropping deep – in search of the ball and any openings. Yet it was not to be, and tellingly just two of those nine shots forced a save from Cillessen.

Mbappe was the only summer signing in Madrid’s starting line-up, so it’s inevitable people will point to him when analysing what has changed between last season and this one, which Madrid have started underwhelmingly. No league goals thus far doesn’t help his case.

Mbappe did of course score in the UEFA Super Cup, but the longer it takes for him to get off the mark in La Liga, the more of a storyline it will become.

Was a handful for Antonio Rudiger and Eder Militao throughout his time on the pitch, holding the ball up well and making smart runs. While all eyes were on another free-agent summer signing heading into the game, McBurnie outshone Mbappe once the whistle went.

Las Palmas: Cillessen 7, Park 7, Suarez 6, McKenna 6, Marmol 6, Campana 6, Moleiro 7, J Munoz 5, Rodriguez 5, Sandro 6, McBurnie 7. Subs: Mata 6, Viti 6, Fuster 5, Loiodice 5.

Real Madrid: Courtois 6, Vazquez 6, Rudiger 6, Militao 6, Mendy 5, Valverde 7, Tchouameni 5, Modric 5, Diaz 4, Mbappe 6, Vinicius 5. Subs: Garcia 6, Rodrygo 5, Guler 5, Carvajal 6, Endrick 5.

GOAL! LAS PALMAS 1-0 REAL MADRID (MOLEIRO) 5′ – McBurnie has the attention of four defenders but plays a good inside ball to Moleiro, who skips past two on a sodden surface and fires low, hard and past Courtois at the far post.

CHANCE! 10′ – Las Palmas come forward again and a deflected cross finds McBurnie inside the six-yard box, but he’s slipping and cannot divert past Courtois. Militao did really well to block.

GREAT SAVE! 25′ – Real tap a free kick short to manufacture a shot for Valverde. He hits it well through a crowd of bodies, but is denied by at strong Cillessen left hand.

PENALTY TO REAL MADRID! 68′ – Vazquez gets round the back on the right, his cutback sparks a scramble and in that scramble the ball strikes Suarez’s arm. Penalty given.

GOAL! LAS PALMAS 1-1 REAL MADRID (VINICIUS) 69′ – Vinicius stutters in his run-up, then firmly strikes beyond Cillessen, who guesses right but can’t reach the ball.

DISALLOWED GOAL! 88′ – Viti smashes a loose ball into the roof of the net – but the flag is up for offside earlier in the move, when a free kick was sent into the box. It’s the right call.