Vinicius Jr. struck twice from the penalty spot as Real Madrid cruised to a 4-1 home win over Real Sociedad on Saturday to move them provisionally top of La Liga.
Madrid moved to 60 points, two points ahead of second-place Barcelona, last season’s champions, who have a game in hand and visit local rival Girona on Monday.
«We are happy because we played a great match. It was an almost flawless performance. We could have scored more, but the most important thing is that we won decisively,» said captain Valverde. Real Madrid television.
Madrid struck within five minutes of kick-off when 21-year-old Gonzalo Garcia sent Trent Alexander-Arnold’s cross past ‘keeper Alex Remiro.
The visiting team leveled in the 21st minute after Dean Huijsen fouled Yangel Herrera and Mikel Oyarzabal converted the penalty.
Vinicius restored the lead four minutes later when Jon Aramburu brought him down and calmly sent Remiro the wrong way.
Federico Valverde made it 3-1 in the 31st minute, curling into the top corner and Vinicius completed the scoring three minutes into the second half, winning and converting another penalty after Aramburu clipped it, as Madrid secured an eighth successive win in La Liga tregfd6.
Madrid almost scored a fifth in the 70th when Gonzalo raced clear to push the ball past the keeper, only for Jon Martin to throw himself into the line of fire and block.
Vinicius thought he had completed his hat-trick in the 89th minute when he headed home from a free-kick, but the effort was ruled out for offside.
Published on February 15, 2026
