The hosts started relatively tentatively against their relegation-battling opponents, but they soon started to force openings. Luka Modric registered the first shot on target by testing Marko Dmitrovic from an acute angle, before the Croatian was teed up by Jude Bellingham at the edge of the area, but Sergio Gonzalez jumped to head his shot away.
Kylian Mbappe was next to be thwarted by Dmitrovic, but the Serbian stopper didn’t anticipate Mbappe’s audacity to chip down the middle from the penalty spot after Arda Guler was fouled by Oscar Rodriguez in the area.
But that opener was undone by Leganes less than two minutes later, with Valentin Rosier marauding down the right to pick out Oscar, who shuffled it through for Diego Garcia to easily tap in.
The Bernabeu – housing just a handful of away fans – was stunned into silence, which subsequently turned to groans as the visitors stunningly took the lead.
Seeking to further make up for his penalty concession, Oscar was again the architect by shifting the ball past Raul Asencio and pulling it back to Dani Raba, who made no mistake by sweeping in.
Los Pepineros couldn’t even hold on for two minutes after the restart though, with Bellingham smashing in on the rebound after Renato Tapia touched Brahim Diaz’s initial shot onto the bar.
Brahim then struck the post, but the hosts had to wait until the last 15 minutes to finally edge back in front.
Bellingham won a free-kick from Tapia on the edge of the box, from which Mbappe expertly curved around the wall and into the bottom corner.
While it was laid off by Fran Garcia, that was remarkably the first goal the Frenchman has scored from a direct free-kick situation in his career.
The hosts appeared to sit back and invite pressure during the final moments, but Leganés could go no closer than Munir El Haddadi’s wayward header.
The win gives Los Blancos parity with Barcelona at the top of the table, but the gap could yet go back to three in the likely event that the Blaugrana defeat Girona on Sunday.
That means May’s Clasico could well be one of the most significant in recent memory, while Leganés face nine games of such importance in their bid to beat the drop.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid)
