Sevilla 2-6 Real Madrid | La Liga match report
Cristiano Ronaldo scored his fifth La Liga hat-trick of the season as Real Madrid brushed off Pepe’s 44th-minute dismissal to secure a crushing 6-2 victory at Sevilla and move back above Barcelona to the top of La Liga.
José Mourinho’s side surrendered first place last weekend when they lost 3-1 at home to Barça in the opening clásico of the season, but they go into the Christmas break with a three-point advantage over their great rivals after 16 matches.
Barça, chasing a fourth straight Spanish title, have been in action at the Club World Cup in Japan this week and meet Brazilian side Santos in the final on Sunday.
La Liga top scorer Ronaldo, whistled by his own fans and criticised by Spanish media after a poor performance in the clásico, took his league tally to 20 goals, three more than Barça’s world player of the year Lionel Messi.
Real were cruising with a 3-0 lead at Sevilla’s Sánchez Pizjuán stadium after the Portuguese forward struck either side of a José Callejón effort before centre-back Pepe got a second yellow card when he caught Álvaro Negredo with a flailing arm.
The Real captain Iker Casillas had earlier produced two brilliant saves to deny Manu del Moral and Piotr Trochowski. Del Moral had squandered Sevilla’s best effort when, with Madrid leading 1-0, he somehow skewed wide in front of an open goal.
Real were forced to defend for long periods at the start of the second half but Sevilla were caught out in the 66th minute when Angel di María sped clear and stroked the ball past Javi Varas for the visitors’ fourth.
Jesús Navas pulled one back for the hosts in the 69th minute but Del Moral was shown a straight red five minutes later for hacking down Alvaro Arbeloa.
Ronaldo completed his treble with a penalty four minutes from time after a foul on Karim Benzema.
The substitute Hamit Altintop tapped in Real’s sixth three minutes later before Sevilla striker Negredo rounded Casillas to make it 6-2 in the second minute of added time.
Ronaldo, who has been accused of failing to perform in the big games, said his three goals served to “shut the mouths” of those who had criticised him. “I don’t care what people say I just do my job. I have shown that I am focused on the team. Those who criticise me don’t understand football. We played well and are the leaders at Christmas which means our goal has been achieved.”
Sevilla stay fifth but will be overtaken by Malaga if the ambitious Qatar-owned club avoid defeat on Sunday at third-placed Valencia, who will themselves be chasing a victory that would cut the gap with Barcelona to four points.
Mourinho praised Di Maria’s performance after the Argentina winger flew home in midweek following a death in the family. The manager said he had expected a positive reaction from his side after Barça ended Real’s 10-match La Liga winning streak.
“Sevilla are always a tough team to play against, a team with ambition,” the former Chelsea manager said. “We had a goalkeeper who made two very good saves at critical moments and that has nothing to do with luck.”
Related posts:
- La Liga round-up: Cristiano Ronaldo hat-trick lifts Real Madrid
- No Ronaldo Rift “Stupidities” Ahead Of Real Madrid vs Sevilla Match – Casillas – Live Soccer TV
- Cristiano Ronaldo in injury scare after hat-trick in Real Madrid romp
- Cristiano Ronaldo scores twice as Real Madrid win thriller at Getafe
- Ronaldo scores four as Real crush Sevilla 6-2 – Reuters Africa
