Mariano Diaz strikes twice as Vinicius returns from injury against Villarreal
Two goals from Mariano Diaz and a Jesus Vallejo strike gave Real Madrid a 3-2 win over Villarreal as Vinicius Junior returned to action after a two-month layoff at the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday.
Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane left Gareth Bale, Luka Modric and Dani Ceballos out of his squad altogether and was missing Sergio Ramos, Alvaro Odriozola and Karim Benzema through injury.
The 46-year-old gave starting spots to Brahim Diaz and Mariano in attack and the pair combined to open the scoring with just over a minute on the clock.
Brahim stole the ball from Santi Cazorla in midfield and freed Mariano, who took several touches before slotting low past Andres Fernandez.
Villarreal were back in it after 11 minutes as Gerard Moreno beat Thibaut Courtois with a fierce drive into the top corner from just outside the box, but Vallejo pounced on a loose ball to poke home from a corner shortly before the interval to make it 2-1.
Mariano then struck four minutes after the break as he converted a Dani Carvajal cross at the far post and the striker went in search of his hat-trick in the latter stages of the match as Madrid looked set to add to their tally.
Isco and Marco Asensio both came on, before Vinicius made his long-awaited return after two months on the sidelines with an ankle injury.
The Brazilian showed some of the flashes of brilliance that made him so popular earlier on in the season and almost set up a goal for Mariano late on, the striker pushed wide by Villarreal goalkeeper Andres Fernandez.
Vinicius also saw a shot saved and later earned applause as he controlled the ball with his back, but there was something of a nervous finish to the game as Jaume Costa rifled home in added time to give Villarreal hope of earning a point.
Madrid held on though for the win which saw them move six points behind second-placed Atletico with two games remaining.
At the other end of the table, Villarreal are still not safe with 40 points, although that total could yet be enough. The Yellow Submarine, in 15th, are away to Eibar and at home to Getafe in their final two matches.