Mbappe secures Madrid derby draw against Atletico

Kylian Mbappe secured Real Madrid a 1-1 draw against rivals Atletico Madrid which kept Los Blancos top of La Liga on Saturday.

- Agencies

MADRID:

Julian Alvarez dinked home a controversial first-half penalty for Atletico, but Mbappe was in the right place at the right time to bundle home early in the second half on his first appearance in the tense derby clash.

Reigning champions Real Madrid lead second-place Atletico by a single point, with Barcelona, third, given the chance to cut the gap on the top two when they face Sevilla on Sunday.

Atletico shaded a close first half but were left holding on in the second period as the hosts stepped up a gear at the Santiago Bernabeu.

"The team is disappointed because they think they deserved more... but we're happy because we're still leaders," Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti told reporters.

"In the second half we had total control; we had a lot of chances."

Ancelotti opted to deploy his four key attacking players in Mbappe, Vinicius Junior, Jude Bellingham and Rodrygo Goes, in lieu of a more conservative approach.

The star names got stuck in, not always a given in a defensive sense, and the first half was a hard-fought, intense battle with few clear openings for either side.