Real Madrid played against Sevilla today to make up for the one match both teams were behind. The match was rescheduled due to the fact that Real Madrid was participating in the FIFA Club World Cup. With today’s match, both teams got caught up with everyone else with today’s win putting Real Madrid four points ahead of Barcelona and seven ahead of Atlético Madrid.
Real Madrid vs Sevilla
Real Madrid has been unstoppable since their lost against Valencia back in January and Sevilla put up a tough fight to stay in the game. Real Madrid was forced to use two substitutions early in the game with Sergio Ramos pulling his hamstring and then James Rodriguez having to step out do to a foot injury.
In the 12 minute, it was Marcelo again that decorated the stadium with his beautiful crosses into the box. It looked like James Rodriguez was offsides, but you can see clearly as Marcelo crossed the ball, James was in line with the defensive line and as the ball reached Rodriguez, James headed it in beautifully with Beto trying to reach for it but went past him to give Real Madrid the 1-0 lead.
On the 17 minute, Sevilla had a chance to tie the game. Vitolo was able to find Vicente Iborra inside the box, which looked like he was offsides as well, and as he went for goal, the ball hit the left post and went for a cornerkick. In the corner, Grzegorz Krychowiak also had an opportunity as he jumped over Nacho Fernandez for the header and as the ball bounced it looked like it was going in, but went too far wide to the right.
Again, it was Sevilla who had a chance in the 21 minute. Vitolo striked the ball towards goal and as it seemed like it was going to go in, Iker Casillas became the king of goalkeepers and saved Real Madrid once again. Carlos Bacca had a chance to get it in on the rebound, but he was too far from the ball to get it in.
It seemed like injuries were haunting both sides. In the 30-minute, there was a horrible collision between goalkeeper Beto and Karim Benzema. It was a loose ball and as Benzema went for it, he collided with Beto and knocked the wind out of him. Sergio Rico came in for Beto in the 34 minute, leaving players and fans concerned about the Sevilla goalkeeper.
Not a minute later, Jese Rodriguez scored on the oncoming goalkeeper. It all started with Isco passing it to Benzema, with Benzema trying to give it back to Isco, but it bounced of Isco’s leg, arrived to Jese and Jese striked the ball beautifully passed Rico to make it 2-0.
Real Madrid was making goalkeeper Sergio Rico nervous by the minute. Two minutes after the goal, Álvaro Arbeloa found Benzema in the middle of the box and as he striked it towards goal, it looked like it had gone it but instead went just past the right post to keep the game 2-0.
Goalkeeper Sergio Rico stepped it up on the second half, saving his team from being down 3-0. In the 55 minute, Isco took on four defenders and as he went one on one with Rico, Rico was there to stop the ball from going in.
In the 70 minute, it seemed like Vitolo was going to get a penalty due to a high leg by Arbeloa, but Arbeloa never touched Vitolo as he was going down even before making the juke, and instead was shown a yellow card by Referee Iglesias. This would have been a great opportunity for Sevilla to get on the scoreboard, but Vitolo fooled the ref and instead the call was overturned.
In the 80 minute, Sevilla was given a throw in, and Vitolo took it inside the box, taking about three defenders then crossing the ball into the middle of the box, with Liverpool loanee, Iago Aspas finding the ball and chipping it in over Iker Casillas to make it 2-1 with 10 minutes left in the game.
Final Score: Real Madrid 2-1 Sevilla
Sevilla pressured and pressured Real Madrid in the last 10 minutes of the game trying to at least equalize the match and go back home with a point added to the table but it wasn’t enough as Real Madrid took the 2-1 win at the Santiago Bernabeu. Marcelo got the man of the match as he created a beautiful cross to James to get the team in the lead and get the win as well. Real Madrid faces Atlético Madrid on Saturday as Sevilla will face Getafe on Saturday as well.
Photo by: Dani Pozo/AFP/Getty Images