Madrid survives mini-scare against Sevilla to extend lead

MADRID — Just when it seemed Real Madrid might consider dropping points in the title race, the Spanish champion calmly moved up a gear to secure a 3-1 win over Sevilla on Saturday and extend its La Liga lead.

Carlo Ancelotti's unbeaten side moved six points clear of rival Barcelona, who was due to host Athletic Bilbao on Sunday, thanks to two strikes in three minutes from Lucas Vazquez and Fede Valverde in the final stages.

Sevilla thought it might take something from the game when Erik Lamela's equalizer canceled out Luka Modric's early strike, but Madrid confidently took back control of the match.

Vinicius Jr, through on goal in the 79th minute, unselfishly squared for substitute Vazquez to roll the ball home and then Valverde continued his own sublime form with a rocket which left Sevilla goalkeeper Bono scrambling helplessly.

"We lost a bit of confidence when we let in the goal, but luckily, the substitutes gave energy to the team and more confidence," said Ancelotti. "We scored the second goal with a spectacular counter and a great pass from Vinicius, and from there we were on our way."

The goals provided a rip-roaring finale to a fine night for Madrid supporters, despite heavy rain. Karim Benzema showed off the Ballon d'Or he won on Monday to the masses at the Santiago Bernabeu before kickoff after being handed his trophy by former winners Modric and Zinedine Zidane.

Fans brandished gold sheets laid out for them by the club.

Although they were not able to watch the French striker due to a thigh problem, their team maintained its momentum.

It took Madrid just five minutes to open the scoring.

Vinicius was the architect, picking the pocket of Gonzalo Montiel, driving forward deep into the area and then sliding a perfect pass across to split the defense and leave Modric with a simple finish on his 450th appearance for the club.

Returning from a sciatica problem, Thibaut Courtois also presented his Yashin Trophy for being the world's best goalkeeper to supporters, which was his only task of note until the second half. He soon had another — picking the ball out of the back of the net.

Lamela finished well after being set up by Montiel, who stole the ball from Vinicius in a reverse of the opening goal.

Stepping up a gear

Ancelotti responded by replacing Aurelien Tchouameni with Eduardo Camavinga, and Madrid picked up again, boosted further by Marco Asensio and Vazquez coming on.

Rodrygo, operating in a false-nine role in place of Benzema, produced a piece of magic with a backheel to find Vinicius, who shot into the side-netting from a tight angle after hurtling past Bono to reach the pass.

Sevilla was on the back foot and the next time Vinicius burst through, running on to Asensio's pass, he earned his second assist of the night, and then Valverde sealed the win in spectacular fashion.

"The first half we had under control, maybe we had to score a second goal to be calmer," Courtois told Movistar.

"Later we woke up and scored two great goals against a strong opponent."

The only worry for Madrid was Uruguayan midfielder Valverde, who has seven goals this season across all competitions, taking a blow to the knee and hobbling away at the end.

"He had a blow to his leg," said Ancelotti. "We'll have to see what happens and how he is on Tuesday (for the Champions League). And Karim, I think he will come back next Sunday."

It was Sevilla's first defeat since Jorge Sampaoli took the reins as coach, leaving it in 14th place.

"I think the team made a great effort at a very difficult place to come," said Sampaoli. "We had to control the game, it could generate a game going back and forth, and Madrid is the best at that."

AFP