Real Madrid head coach Jose Mourinho admitted he risked everything with his substitutions after a thrilling 3-2 win against Elche in the La Liga on Tuesday. Carlos Espi scored the match-winning goal in the 91st minute to help his team earn all three points.

In the first half, Madrid took a 1-0 lead after Arda Güler free kick was touched into the net by keeper Matías Dituro. Kylian Mbappe then doubled the visitors’ lead as he scored in the 33rd minute.

However, the home team bounced back and equalised after goals from Abiel Osorio and Fer Niño.

After the home team’s comeback, Mourinho introduced forwards Espí and Endrick to launch his attack.

“With the changes at the end, I risked everything,” Mourinho said in his postmatch news conference. “We won, but we could have lost. We had to do it, because a draw isn’t enough.”

Meanwhile, Espi has scored two match-winning goals in two games this season and the Portuguese manager said he is doing really well.

“[Espí] is doing well, making an important contribution to the team,” Mourinho said. “He has a problem in front of him, which is a player who isn’t a normal player [Mbappé], and playing with both together isn’t easy.”

Mourinho admitted that his team’s problems are obvious after they squandered their two-goal lead.

“In games that seem like they’re done, we have three, four, five chances to kill it, and we don’t,” the coach said. “We didn’t score, we didn’t finish it with the 3 or 4-0. When it seems easy, you leave things like that, away from home at these stadiums.

“They get a goal and it’s an open game. The good thing is that in difficulty, the team reacts and wins.”

Mourinho added jokingly: “The good thing is that nobody gets bored in Real Madrid games. They’re really fun.”

Real Madrid will face Atletico Madrid on Sunday.