Vinicius Jr’s brace at the Estadio Martínez Valero sent Real Madrid back to the top of the La Liga table on Saturday afternoon.
Madrid took the lead in the 22nd minute. Vinicius opened the scoring when he finished past Kiko Casilla from just inside the box after Mariano flicked a pass to the Brazilian.
Elche had their chances after but failed to convert and eventually went down to the 10 men in the second half when Raúl Guti was sent off for a challenge on Toni Kroos.
Vinicius’ second goal came in the second half when Luka Modric played the ball into space and the in-form forward dinked his effort over Casilla from a tight angle to double Real Madrid’s lead.
Pere Milla came on and scored in the 86th minute to give the home side some hope but they couldn’t find the all-important second and Carlo Ancelotti’s side held out for the three points.
Mariano was impressive for Los Blancos, leading the line in place of the rested Karim Benzema. Madrid are now joint top of the table with Real Sociedad on 24 points. Elche haven’t beaten Los Blancos since 1978.
