SAN SEBASTIAN, Sept 15 — Real Madrid’s Vinicius Jr and Kylian Mbappe converted second-half penalties to give the champions a hard-fought 2-0 win at Real Sociedad in La Liga yesterday.

Carlo Ancelotti’s side took the lead in the 58th minute with Vinicius netting a penalty after an Arda Guler shot from the edge of the box hit the hand of midfielder Sergio Gomez, who raised both arms in a reflex move to protect his face.

Mbappe secured the three points by putting away his spot kick in the 75th after Vinicius was stomped on by a defender in a late challenge that was not spotted by the referee but was penalised after a VAR review.

Real remain second but now have 11 points, one behind Barcelona who visit fifth-placed Girona today. They must now rally their players with only three days before their Champions League opener at home to Stuttgart on Tuesday.

It was a high-paced, entertaining affair in the Basque Country with both sides missing a string of chances, including three strikes off the woodwork by the hosts.

Facing a selection headache with defender David Alaba and midfielders Jude Bellingham, Eduardo Camavinga, Dani Ceballos and Aurelien Tchouameni still recovering from injuries, Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti made three changes from the team that beat Real Betis before the international break.

But the Italian was hit with another injury to one of his key players early in Saturday’s game when Morocco attacking midfielder Brahim Diaz had to come off with what looked like a right leg muscle injury in the 24th minute.

Brahim had been one of their best players, feeding balls to Mbappe who almost scored on three occasions running the right channel, denied by keeper Alex Remiro who also made a stunning one-handed save from Antonio Ruediger’s header in the 29th.

The home side were often dangerous on the counter and almost scored with strikes by Luka Sucic and Sheraldo Becker that rocked off the crossbar in the 25th and 39th minutes.

Sucic hit the post again in the first move of the second-half while trying to angle a strike from inside the box out of reach of keeper Thibaut Courtois, who made a brilliant one-handed save to stop a close-range header by Igor Zubeldia.

It eventually took two penalties to decide the outcome with Vinicius Jr and Mbappe calmly tucking away their spot kicks. — Reuters