Jose Mourinho admitted Real Madrid “risked everything” in their 3-2 La Liga win over Elche, with substitute Carlos Espi scoring the 91st-minute winner.
Real Madrid looked comfortable after taking a 2-0 lead in the first half. Arda Guler’s free-kick was deflected into his own net by Elche goalkeeper Matias Dituro before Kylian Mbappe doubled the advantage after being found by Jan Diomande.
However, Elche scored twice in the final seconds to level the score, putting Real Madrid’s strong start to the game under intense pressure.
Mourinho responded by sending on strikers Espy and Ndrick, leaving Real with six attacking players on the pitch. time
His move paid off when Jude Bellingham found Mbappe, who crossed for Espy to score the winning goal.
“With the last change, I risked everything,” Mourinho said.
“We won but we could lose. We have to do it because a draw is not enough.”
Espi makes an impact
Espy has scored winning goals in two games this season, also beating Espanyol away from home.
The youngster also had an overhand equalizer ruled out against Real Betis, underscoring his growing influence even as he competes with Kylian Mbappe for minutes.
“[Espi] Mourinho said: “He performed very well and made an important contribution to the team.”
“He has a problem in front of him, which is a player who is not an ordinary player. [Mbappe]it’s not easy to play the two together. “
Madrid draws with Barcelona
Mourinho admitted Real Madrid were making life difficult for themselves by failing to beat Elche when they were in control.
“We had three, four, five chances to kill it in a game that looked like it was over and we didn’t,” he said.
“We didn’t score, we didn’t end the game 3-0 or 4-0. When it looks easy, you leave things like that away from home, in these stadiums.
“They scored and it was an open game. The good thing is, in the midst of difficulty, the team responded and got the win.”
The result leaves Madrid level with Barcelona at the top of the La Liga table ahead of Barcelona’s game against Racing Santander.