Bellingham Saves Real Madrid With Late Equaliser in Dramatic 2–2 Draw at Elche

Real Madrid escaped with a point thanks to a late Jude Bellingham equaliser in a thrilling 2–2 draw against Elche. The result allows Los Blancos to edge slightly ahead of Barcelona at the top of LaLiga, but Xabi Alonso’s team will know they came dangerously close to another slip.

First Half Full of Chances but No Goals

Both sides produced a surprisingly open first half, yet neither could find the breakthrough.
Kylian Mbappé wasted an early chance after being played through by Raúl Asensio, while André Silva fired wide for Elche moments later.

Thibaut Courtois kept Madrid alive with a brilliant save to deny Rafa Mir following a mistake from Álvaro Carreras. The visitors then missed several opportunities of their own as Asensio and Arda Güler failed to hit the target, and Mbappé saw multiple efforts stopped by Elche goalkeeper Iñaki Peña.

Despite the chaos at both ends, the match somehow reached half-time at 0–0 — thanks almost entirely to the two keepers.

Febas Strikes, But Madrid Fight Back

Elche took a deserved lead in the 53rd minute when German Valera’s clever backheel found Aleix Febas, who finished calmly in front of Courtois.

Alonso turned to his bench for answers, introducing Vinícius Jr among others. The Brazilian nearly made an instant impact, but his attempt to find Mbappé instead of shooting himself was cleared by Álvaro Núñez.

Madrid’s pressure finally paid off in the 78th minute when Dean Huijsen reacted fastest to a loose ball after Elche failed to clear a corner, making it 1–1.

Rodríguez Haunts His Former Club

Elche refused to collapse. Rafa Mir and Martin Neto both had chances before the moment home fans dreamed of arrived.
Álvaro Rodríguez — a former Real Madrid academy product — drove forward, beat Asensio, and unleashed a superb strike into the corner to restore Elche’s lead with six minutes left.

It looked like Elche were about to beat Real Madrid for the first time since returning to the league in 2013.

Bellingham Rescues Madrid Late

But Jude Bellingham had other ideas. Three minutes later, chaos in the box after a Madrid free-kick ended with Bellingham poking the ball into the net. Peña, bleeding after a collision, appealed for a foul — but the goal stood.

Elche’s frustrations grew in stoppage time when Víctor Chust received a second yellow card for bringing down Mbappé.

Madrid leave with a point, but another warning sign as the title race tightens.