Arda Guler assisted Kylian Mbappe and shone once again under Xabi Alonso.

Kylian Mbappe scored twice before Vinicius Jr added a third to secure a 3-0 victory for an otherwise underwheliming Real Madrid over newly-promoted Real Oviedo. Xabi Alonso's side produced an unconvincing performance for the second straight game, but leaned on their star attackers to provide enough moments of quality to win. 

Los Blancos remain in control

Madrid almost conceded within seconds as an Oviedo foray forward drew a mistake out of Thibaut Courtois, but the excellent Dean Huijsen recovered well. Los Blancos were otherwise on the front foot throughout, even if they created few opportunities, and they scored from their one real chance of the first half when Mbappe swivelled around his man on the edge of the box and finished wonderfully into the bottom corner.

Federico Valverde could have made it two in the second half when he found himself on the receiving end of a finely-worked counter, but goalkeeper Aaron Escandell saved at full stretch. Oviedo, meanwhile, had their chances as the half wore on and hit the post shortly before Mbappe ruthlessly stroked the ball into the bottom corner after a pass from Vinicius with seven minutes remaining.

Madrid shared Arda Güler with a ‘brain’ emoji

Arda Güler was the player who assisted Kylian Mbappe in Real Madrid's first goal. Following Arda Güler's superb through ball, the French star found the back of the net in the 37th minute. Meanwhile, Real Madrid's official account shared a post about Arda Güler, who played an active role in his team's playmaking, after the match, which received a lot of engagement. The club's X account shared a photo of Arda and added a brain emoji to highlight the player's intelligence. Real Madrid's post featuring Arda Güler with a brain emoji received hundreds of comments from Turkish football fans. Real Madrid fans also praised Arda Güler, emphasizing that his performance was much better than expected and surprisingly consistent.