Mbappé extends scoring streak as Real Madrid beats Alaves 3-2 in Spanish league

MADRID (AP) — Kylian Mbappé extended his scoring streak with his sixth goal in five matches as Real Madrid defeated Alaves 3-2 to move closer to leader Barcelona in the Spanish league on Tuesday.

Mbappé's seventh goal since joining Madrid was a beauty, with the France forward starting a give-and-go with Jude Bellingham with a heal flick and then picking up the pass inside the area and using a nifty move to clear a defender before finding the net in the 40th minute at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.

Mbappé asked to be substituted in the 80th because of a muscle ailment, according to Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti, who said it was not serious.

Lucas Vázquez and Rodrygo also scored for Madrid, which extended its unbeaten run in the league to 39 matches — with 29 wins and 10 draws going back to last season. Alaves made a late charge by scoring with Carlos Benavídez in the 85th and Kike García in the 86th but couldn't find the equalizer despite chances in the final minutes.

“We played a great match for 80 minutes, but we suffered more than we should have in the end,” Vázquez said.

The victory moved Madrid within one point of league leader Barcelona, which will go for its seventh victory in a row to start the season when it hosts winless Getafe on Wednesday.

Mbappé now has seven goals in nine matches with Madrid in all competitions. He has five goals in the Spanish league, one behind leading scorer Robert Lewandowski of Barcelona.

The France star who signed as a free agent after leaving Paris Saint-Germain, also had a goal disallowed for offside in the 22nd. Arda Güler came in for Mbappé in the 80th.

Vázquez had put Madrid ahead one minute into the match with a shot from inside the area after a nice run by Vinícius Júnior through the left side of the area. Rodrygo added to the lead after a long run in the 48th.

Ancelotti, in his 300th match with the club, used most of his regular starters and did not immediately rotate his squad despite a congested schedule.

Vázquez started as a right back in place of regular starter Dani Carvajal, who was rested with fitness issues.

Teenage Brazil forward Endrick replaced Rodrygo in the 69th, his earliest appearance off the bench, and a couple of minutes later struck the post from inside the area.

Madrid complained about yellow cards to Vinícius, Federico Valverde and substitute Luka Modric for protesting in a match in which Madrid felt its players were often subjected to tough tackles.

“There is a different standard now and we have to adapt,” Ancelotti said. “We have to stop protesting.”

Alaves, whose players were not shown any cards, complained that a red card should have been given to Endrick after the Brazilian appeared to kick an opponent away from the play.

Madrid’s next match is the city derby against Atletico Madrid at Atletico’s Metropolitano stadium.

Sevilla midfielder Saúl Ñíguez was carried off the field on a stretcher with an apparent leg injury early in the second half of Sevilla's 2-1 home win over Valladolid.

Chidera Ejuke scored the winner in the 85th minute for Sevilla's second victory in its past three league matches.

Valladolid's only win this season came in its league opener against Espanyol.

Valencia followed up its first win of the season — 2-0 at Girona — with a 0-0 draw against Osasuna.

Osasuna had won two of its last three matches.

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

Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham runs during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Alaves at Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior reacts during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Alaves at Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Real Madrid's David Alaba, right, discusses with Alaves' Carlos Benavidez during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Alaves at Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Alaves at Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Real Madrid's Lucas Vazquez, front, celebrates with Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior after scoring the opening goal during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Alaves at Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe, left, celebrates with teammates after scoring his side's second goal during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Alaves at Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Alaves at Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Alaves at Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Alaves at Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe celebrates after scores a disallowed goal during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Alaves at Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Alaves at Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Chief Justice John Roberts issued a defense Tuesday of judicial independence, which he said is under threat from intimidation, disinformation and the prospect of public officials defying court orders.

Roberts laid out his concerns in his annual report on the federal judiciary. It was released after a year where the nation's court system was unusually enmeshed in a closely fought presidential race, with then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump assailing the integrity of judges who ruled against him as he faced criminal charges for which he denied wrongdoing.

Trump won the race following a landmark Supreme Court immunity decision penned by Roberts that, along with another high court decision halting efforts to disqualify him from the ballot, removed obstacles to his election.

The immunity decision was criticized by Democrats like President Joe Biden, who later called for term limits and an enforceable ethics code following criticism over undisclosed trips and gifts from wealthy benefactors to some justices.

Roberts, for his part, introduced his letter by recounting a story about King George III stripping colonial judges of lifetime appointments, an order that was “not well received.”

Trump is now readying for a second term as president with an ambitious conservative agenda, elements of which are likely to be legally challenged and end up before the court whose conservative majority includes three justices appointed by Trump during his first term.

Roberts and Trump clashed in 2018 when the chief justice rebuked the president for denouncing a judge who rejected his migrant asylum policy as an “Obama judge.”

In 2020, Roberts criticized comments made by Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer while the Supreme Court was considering a high-profile abortion case.

Roberts didn't mention Trump, Biden or any other specific leader in this year's annual report. Instead, he wrote generally that even if court decisions are unpopular or mark a defeat for a presidential administration, other branches of government must be willing to enforce them to ensure the rule of law.

He pointed to the Brown v. Board of Education decision that desegregated schools in 1954 as one that needed federal enforcement in the face of resistance from southern governors.

“It is not in the nature of judicial work to make everyone happy,” he wrote.

The chief justice also decried elected officials across the political spectrum who have “raised the specter of open disregard for federal court rulings.”

“Attempts to intimidate judges for their rulings in cases are inappropriate and should be vigorously opposed,” he wrote.

While public officials and others have the right to criticize rulings, they should also be aware that their statements can “prompt dangerous reactions by others.”

Threats targeting federal judges have more than tripled over the last decade, according to U.S. Marshals Service statistics. State court judges in Wisconsin and Maryland were killed at their homes in 2022 and 2023, Roberts wrote.

“Violence, intimidation, and defiance directed at judges because of their work undermine our Republic, and are wholly unacceptable,” he wrote.

Roberts also pointed to disinformation about court rulings as a threat to judges’ independence, saying that social media can magnify distortions and even be exploited by “hostile foreign state actors” to exacerbate divisions.

Against a backdrop of those heightened divisions, Americans’ confidence in the country’s judicial system and courts has dropped to a record low of 35%, a Gallup poll found.

FILE - The Supreme Court is pictured, Oct. 7, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib, File)