Sevilla defeated Real Madrid on Wednesday, severely damaging Los Blancos' title aspirations, and setting a new club record with their sixth straight win in La Liga. Carlos Bacca was the hero, scoring twice, including the match winner with 17 minutes left to play.
Sevilla vs. Real Madrid: Final score 2-1, Sevilla hands Madrid a second straight loss
Carlos Bacca’s brace gave Sevilla a sixth straight league win, while handing Real Madrid a second loss in four days.
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Both sides came close to scoring goals within the first three minutes of the match. Sevilla were first when Ivan Rakitic's free kick was directed across the face of goal by Vicente Iborra, but Federico Fazio's volley attempt was struck poorly and didn't force a save from Diego López. A minute later Gareth Bale made an aggressive run but his shot from the edge of the box went well over the crossbar.
After an extended run of pressure that saw Karim Benzema come close a couple times, it was Cristiano Ronaldo who finally opened the scoring, with some help from Carlos Bacca's arm. Madrid earned a free kick 20-yards from goal and Ronaldo's shot hit off Bacca's arm as he jumped to block the attempt. The ball's abrupt change of direction left Beto frozen, as it turned right and into the net.
Sevilla answered back on a counter-attack in the 19th minute when the Madrid defense got caught forward after a set piece. Xabi Alonso's awful turnover in the midfield helped start the break as Bacca split between Dani Carvajal and Asier Illarramendi and ran onto Jose Antonio Reyes' cross inside the Madrid box. Bacca let the ball bounce once and as López went to ground, he lifted a shot over the goalkeeper to even the match at 1-1.
Ronaldo just missed his second goal of the match in the 43rd minute, beating Beto and chipping the ball over the goalkeeper. The ball hit the post and somehow managed to not cross the line before Nicolas Pareja could race in and clear it away.
The frantic end-to-end pace from the first half carried over into the second 45 minutes but as the minutes went by, Sevilla started to drop deeper and look winded as Madrid set-up camp in their attacking third.
Then in the 73rd minute, Carlos Bacca got loose again on the counter attack, receiving the ball from Rakitic -- who beat Pepe with an absurdly skillful back heel -- and racing into the Madrid box. López tried to get down and cover Bacca’s shot but the ball went under his legs, bouncing off the goalkeeper’s thigh and giving Sevilla a 2-1 lead.
Sevilla remains six points back of Athletic Bilbao in fourth place while Madrid drops down to third place, a full three points behind the league leaders Atlético Madrid.
Sevilla: Beto, Coke, Pareja, Fazio, Moreno, Iborra, M’bia, Reyes (Navarro 78’), Rakitic, Marin (Vitolo 71’), Bacca (Gameiro 83’)
Goals: Bacca (19’, 73’)
Real Madrid: Diego López, Carvajal, Pepe, Varane, Marcelo, Modrić (Morata 90’), Xabi Alonso, Illarramendi (Isco 67’), Bale, Benzema, Ronaldo
Goals: Ronaldo (14’)
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