Real Madrid 3-1 Espanyol: Vinicius Junior, Eder Militao and Marco Asensio on target as Real pick up first win in four

Vinicius Junior inspired Real Madrid to a 3-1 win over Espanyol which brings them within six points of La Liga leaders Barcelona.

Espanyol had not scored an away goal versus Real in more than 630 minutes, but needed fewer than eight to take the lead.

Joselu was the beneficiary of Eduardo Camavinga getting his angles wrong and slammed a Ruben Sanchez cross into the top corner.

Vinicius got Madrid back on level terms almost single-handedly, beating three defenders for pace before firing in a low shot.

Eder Militao put them ahead shortly before the interval when he nodded in Aurelien Tchouameni's brilliant cross.

Madrid were dominant after their slow start and came agonisingly close to growing their lead via Rodrygo, who rattled the crossbar from a free kick.

Marco Asensio eventually added a third in stoppage time, burying a one-on-one with Espanyol stretched.

Real are six points behind Barcelona - who play their game in hand on Sunday - and their next league game is against the leaders at Camp Nou next weekend.

Espanyol remain 13th, two points off the relegation zone.

With Karim Benzema absent through injury, there was an extra onus on Vinicius and Rodrygo, who started in the middle. While it would be unfair to say to Rodrygo was poor, he did not necessarily thrive under the pressure. Vinicius did.

Vinicius has been having an excellent season and this game was the latest demonstration of the irresistible force he can be. Everybody knew what he wanted to do for the first goal - cut in from the left and shoot right-footed - yet despite having three defenders on him, Espanyol could not stop the Brazilian. Almost all of Madrid's best moments came down the left, where Vinicus was camped out and Camavinga more happy moving forward than backward. Life after Benzema does not have to mean Kylian Mbappe for Real Madrid - on this evidence and much of this season's, Vinicius is ready to be the leading man.

On top of scoring an excellent goal which got Real back on level terms, Vinicius tormented Espanyol's defenders to the point where a different referee may have produced a red card. The visitors could not stop him.

Real Madrid: Courtois 6, Carvajal 6, Nacho 7, Militao 7, Camavinga 5, Tchouameni 7, Kroos 6, Modric 6, Valverde 6, Rodrygo 6, Vinicius 8. Subs: Asensio 7, Ceballos 5, Rudiger 6, Alvaro n/a.

Espanyol: Pacheco 6, Gil 5, Cabrera 6, Montes 6, Gomez 5, Ruben 6, Souza 6, Gragera 5, Darder 5, Braithwaite 5, Joselu 7. Subs: Pierre-Gabriel 5, Puado 5, Suarez 5, Vidal n/a, Melamed n/a.

JOSELU GIVES ESPANYOL THE LEAD 8' - The visitors are ahead! Ruben gets the wrong side of Camavinga, who is deceived by the flight of a long ball, and Ruben promptly crosses for Joselu to slam home with a lovely first-time finish.

VINICIUS EQUALISES IN STYLE 22' - Vinicius picks up the ball on the left, cuts inside and outsprints three defenders to find half a yard - all the space he needs to fire a low shot into the far corner.

MILITAO GIVES REAL THE LEAD 39' - Real Madrid in front! After a corner routine doesn't work, Tchouameni crosses sensationally with the outside of his right boot and Militao - unmarked at the back post - heads in off the bar.

KROOS COMES CLOSE 70' - A loose ball falls for Kroos, who unleashes a left-foot shot which whistles narrowly over the bar.

RODRYGO RATTLES BAR 75' - Rodrygo takes a free kick and hits it well - so well that Pacheco is a spectator as the ball crashes back off the crossbar. Rodrygo got it up and over the wall but just not quite down enough.

ASENSIO ADDS A THIRD 90+3' - Nacho carries the ball deep into Espanyol's half then slips in Asensio, who has time to set himself before wrongfooting Pacheco.

Vinicius has now scored 19 goals in all competition for Real Madrid this season, the most of any player.