Mbappé leads a night of braces across Europe and Pulisic returns for AC Milan

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Kylian Mbappé scored twice in a jittery Real Madrid victory in La Liga while Christian Pulisic played his first game since the World Cup and helped AC Milan rally for a draw in Serie A on Saturday.

Liverpool and Chelsea dropped more points in the Premier League after being held to surprise draws at home.

Borussia Dortmund and Freiburg remained perfect in the Bundesliga, while Monaco dropped points for the first time in Ligue 1.

Mbappé scored the first and last goals of Real Madrid’s 4-1 win over Rayo Vallecano.

Mbappé converted a 14th-minute penalty after Florian Lejeune made a rash tackle of Álvaro Carreras. Lejeune was again to blame when his poor pass was intercepted and led to Mbappé assisting Carreras to make it 2-0. Jude Bellingham slotted the third goal in the 35th.

But modest Rayo took the initiative at the Santiago Bernabeu after halftime, dominating the ball for stretches and finding holes in Madrid’s new-look defense.

Sergio Camello poked home a goal in the 51st, moments after Pedro Díaz hit the post and drew the first of several saves from Thibaut Courtois. The Belgium goalkeeper had to bail out Madrid again, parrying more shots by Lejeune and Heorhii Tsitaishvili.

That was too much for many of the home fans, who whistled the dip in performance by José Mourinho’s side — until Mbappé found the corner in stoppage time.

His double pulled the France striker level with Barcelona’s Raphinha and Rayo’s Camello with six goals apiece in five rounds in La Liga.

Pulisic helped to spark AC Milan’s comeback at Lazio for a 2-2 draw in the United States midfielder’s first appearance for his Italian club this season.

Pulisic and Diego Moreira were sent on at halftime by coach Rúben Amorim with Milan trailing by two goals in Rome.

They both linked up to spark a rally. Pulisic lobbed a pass to the far post for Moreira to smash in his first goal in the 65th. Moreira needed just two more minutes to fire a second goal in from distance and split the points.

Pulisic had not played since he sustained a bone bruise along with microfractures to his tibia and fibula when the U.S. exited the World Cup in a loss to Belgium in July.

Cagliari won at Atalanta 2-1 and Genoa drew with Frosinone 1-1.

Liverpool’s big money forwards Alexander Isak and Bradley Barcola couldn’t find a way past winless Fulham in a goalless contest at Anfield, while Chelsea’s defense was exposed again by Hull in a 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge.

Aston Villa’s nightmare start to the season continued with a 2-1 loss at home to Nottingham Forest. Ipswich beat Crystal Palace 3-2, while Bournemouth and Brentford drew 2-2.

Tottenham is still without a goal after a 0-0 draw with Everton.

Borussia Dortmund and Freiburg both made it three wins to start the Bundesliga.

Felix Nmecha scored twice, including a late goal with a bicycle kick, to help Dortmund beat Paderborn 3-0.

“That was the best goal of my career,” said Nmecha about his acrobatic strike, when he stretched to score a cross with his back to the goal.

Niko Kovac’s side has won five in a row across all competitions, including a victory midweek over Villarreal in their Champions League opener. Germany defender Nico Schlotterbeck started for Dortmund in his return from an ankle injury sustained in the World Cup.

Freiburg tops the table on goal difference after its 5-0 rout of Borussia Mönchengladbach. Yannik Engelhardt and Igor Matanović scored two each to fuel Freiburg’s big win. They both struck once when ’Gladbach was reduced to 10 men after Tim Kleindienst got a second booking.

Augsburg dropped points for the first time after Bayer Leverkusen rallied from two goals down for a 2-2 draw. Michael Gregoritsch scored Augsburg’s two goals early in the second half.

Eintracht Frankfurt beat Mainz 3-1. Hoffenheim downed Stuttgart 2-1 for its first win, while Werder Bremen drew at Cologne 1-1.

Roberto Fernández kept up his strong start by scoring a double to lead Espanyol to a 2-0 win at Osasuna. Fernández has five goals in as many games this season, after the striker scored only seven in La Liga all last season.

On a night of scoring in pairs across Europe, Yassir Zabiri found the net twice to lead the promoted Racing Santander to a 2-1 home win over Alaves. Zabiri has five goals already since joining Racing from Rennes on loan.

It was a first loss for Alaves after the surprisingly good start for the small Basque club.

Iñaki Williams salvaged Athletic Bilbao a 1-1 home draw with Elche.

Monaco was held at Strasbourg to 1-1 and the Ligue 1 leader failed to win for the first time this season.

Toulouse drew at Lorient 2-2. Auxerre edged Nice 1-0, Paris FC drew with Lyon 0-0, and Le Harve drew with Angers 0-0.

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