Mbappé's last-gasp penalty lifts Real Madrid to 2-1 win over Rayo Vallecano in Spanish league

MADRID (AP) — Kylian Mbappé came through for Real Madrid again, converting a penalty kick 10 minutes into second-half stoppage time to salvage a 2-1 win over Rayo Vallecano and move Madrid back within a point of Spanish league leader Barcelona on Sunday.

Vinícius Júnior also scored for Madrid after again being jeered by fans early on at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. Jude Bellingham, also booed when the lineup was announced, had to be replaced 10 minutes into the match because of a left hamstring injury.

Madrid was coming off a 4-2 loss at Benfica that dropped the team out of the eight automatic spots for the round of 16 of the Champions League. It will face Benfica again in the playoffs.

“We came from a tough defeat, one that nobody ever wants, in the Champions, a competition many of us aspire to win," Madrid midfielder Federico Valverde said. “We wanted to change that image, today we had the first opportunity, and I think we played a great game.”

It was a thriller at the Bernabeu on Sunday, with Mbappé giving Madrid the victory by coolly converting the last-gasp penalty for his eighth goal in five matches.

The result allowed Álvaro Arbeloa's side to keep pace with Barcelona, which won 3-1 at Elche on Saturday.

“It was a victory in which the players put a lot of energy, their soul,” said Arbeloa, who took over after replacing Xabi Alonso last month. “We needed the help of the fans and without their push we would not have achieved it.”

The boos toward Vinícius were subdued after he scored a superb goal in the 15th minute. The Brazil international cleared a couple of defenders before curling a right-footed shot into the top corner.

Rayo, which played a man down from the 80th after Pathé Ciss was sent off with a straight red card for a hard foul, equalized through Jorge De Frutos in the 49th.

Vallecano, which threatened at times at the Bernabeu, also saw Pep Chavarría shown a second yellow in the final minutes of added time.

Rayo, which has lost four straight in all competitions, had lost only one of its last five games against Madrid in the league. It dropped to 17th place, just outside the relegation zone.

Bellingham was on his own when he seemed to pick up the injury. He immediately grabbed the back of his leg with his left hand before going to the ground. He received medical assistance and seemed emotional as he left the field under his own power.

Madrid did not provide a timetable for Bellingham's recovery but Spanish media said he is not likely to recover in time to face Benfica in the Champions League playoffs.

The England international was replaced by Brahim Díaz, who five minutes later set up the Vinícius goal that made it 1-0 for Madrid. Díaz also prompted the foul of the penalty converted by Mbappé.

Mbappé had missed an open net in the 68th, hitting the crossbar after getting past the goalkeeper.

With the game tied 1-1 in the 64th, Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois came up with a crucial save on a one-on-one following a Rayo breakaway.

Iñigo Ruiz de Galarreta scored an 88th-minute equalizer as Athletic Bilbao salvaged a 1-1 draw at home against Basque Country rival Real Sociedad.

The visitors had taken the lead with Gonçalo Guedes' goal in the 37th. Sociedad played with 10 men from the 83rd after Brais Méndez was sent off with a straight red card.

Athletic, winless in six league games, moved to 11th. Eighth-place Sociedad was trying to win its fourth consecutive league match.

Pablo Fornals scored an 88th-minute winner to give fifth-place Real Betis a 2-1 win over 15th-place Valencia, which had won three in a row in all competitions. Chimy Ávila also scored for the hosts, three minutes after Luis Rioja had given Valencia the lead.

Seventh-place Celta Vigo drew 0-0 at 16th-place Getafe, which hasn't won in nine consecutive matches across all tournaments. Celta stayed winless in three straight games.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior, center left, heads for the ball during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Rayo Vallecano in Madrid, Spain, Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe, left, tries a shot during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Rayo Vallecano in Madrid, Spain, Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Rayo Vallecano in Madrid, Spain, Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe tries a shot during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Rayo Vallecano in Madrid, Spain, Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Rayo Vallecano in Madrid, Spain, Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

BANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar’s parliament on Friday elected Min Aung Hlaing, a general who ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian government in 2021 and kept an iron grip on power for the past five years, as the country’s new president.

The move marks a nominal return to an elected government but is widely considered as an effort to keep the army in power after an election organized by the military that opponents and independent observers deemed neither free nor fair.

Transitioning to an elected government is also seen as a way to improve frosty relations with Asian neighbors following the military takeover. China and Russia have supported the military administration, while Western powers imposed sanctions.

Min Aung Hlaing was one of three nominees for the president’s post, but was virtually guaranteed the job as lawmakers from military-backed parties and appointed members from the army hold a commanding majority in parliament.

The vote was held in the newly renovated parliament building in the capital, Naypyitaw, which was damaged in last year’s earthquake.

Aung Lin Dwe, speaker of parliament’s combined upper and lower house, announced that Min Aung Hlaing won 429 out of the 584 votes.

The two runners-up become vice presidents. Nyo Saw, a former general, had served as an adviser to Min Aung Hlaing, and Nan Ni Ni Aye, an ethnic Karen politician from the pro-military Union Solidarity and Development Party, will be the country’s first female vice president. They are expected to be inaugurated next week.

Min Aung Hlaing, who holds the rank of senior general, had earlier relinquished his post of commander-in-chief because the constitution prohibits the president from simultaneously holding the top military position. A close aide, Gen. Ye Win Oo, took over the powerful job.

The 69-year-old Min Aung Hlaing had been the military chief since 2011. Under the military-imposed constitution, he held significant powers even before overthrowing Suu Kyi’s government.

Parliament members were elected in three phases in December and January. Major opposition parties, including Suu Kyi’s former ruling National League for Democracy, were either blocked from running or refused to compete under conditions they deemed unfair. Suu Kyi, 80, is serving a 27-year prison term on charges widely viewed as politically motivated.

Myanmar was under military rule from 1962 until 2016, when Suu Kyi’s party came to power, and won an even greater mandate in the 2020 general election. The army took seized control in 2021, before the new Parliament could convene.

Peaceful protests against military rule were put down with deadly force, pushing pro-democracy activists to turn to armed resistance and ally themselves with ethnic minority groups who have been battling for greater autonomy for decades.

Much of the country has been enmeshed in a bloody civil war. Security concerns meant voting in the recent election could be held in only 263 of the country’s 330 townships.

“If Min Aung Hlaing thinks that an official civilian title will shield him from prosecution for the many grave violations of international law that he is accused of overseeing as head of the military, that is not how international justice works," Amnesty International Myanmar researcher Joe Freeman said in statement.

In 2024, the International Criminal Court in The Hague began an investigation on charges of crimes against humanity after a prosecutor applied for an arrest warrant for Min Aung Hlaing over the military’s brutal persecution of the Rohingya minority.

Parliament chairman Aung Lin Dwe, center, arrives for a session of Union Parliament in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)

FILE - Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, head of Myanmar's military council, inspects officers during a parade to commemorate Myanmar's 78th Armed Forces Day in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, March 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo, File)

Myanmar's military representatives and lawmakers arrive to attend a session at Union parliament in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Friday, April 3, 2026.(AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)

Myanmar's military representatives arrive for a session at Union parliament in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)

Myanmar's military representatives arrive for a session at Union parliament in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)

Parliament chairman Aung Lin Dwe arrives for a session of Union Parliament in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)

Parliament chairman Aung Lin Dwe, center, arrives for a session of Union Parliament in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)