Real Madrid secured a thrilling 4-2 victory over Sevilla on Sunday, catapulting them to second place in La Liga. The win narrowed the gap with leaders Atletico Madrid to a single point heading into the winter break.
Kylian Mbappe was instrumental in the triumph, scoring the opening goal and providing assistance for another.
Mbappe scored with a thunderbolt from outside the box in the 10th minute before Federico Valverde put reigning champions Real two goals ahead from long-range 10 minutes later. Rodrygo fired home the third in the 34th from a cross by Lucas Vazquez.
Sevilla pulled one back a minute later when Isaac Romero headed home but Brahim Diaz restored the home side's three-goal cushion in the 53rd minute when he finished off a clever move after Mbappe and Vazquez combined to set him up.
Sevilla got a late goal when Dodi Lukebakio was put through in the 85th but Real saw the game out to move two points clear of Barcelona, who are third on 38 points having played a game more than the top two after losing 2-1 to Atletico on Saturday.
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Mbappe scored with a thunderbolt from outside the box in the 10th minute and before Sevilla could recover Valverde also pulled the trigger from long-range that gave Sevilla goalkeeper Alvaro Fernandez no chance.
Valverde's effort was his fifth goal from outside the box in all competitions for Real this season, which is more than any other player from Europe's top five leagues.
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Rodrygo fired home the third in the 34th minute from a cross by Lucas Vazquez but Sevilla scored immediately after kick off when Romero headed in a cross from Juanlu Sanchez.
However, Brahim Diaz restored the home side's three-goal cushion eight minutes after the restart when he finished off a clever move after Mbappe and Vazquez combined to set him up.
Sevilla managed to score another consolation when Peque Fernandez found Lukebakio making a run and made an incisive pass for the Belgian midfielder to score at the near post. The defeat left the visitors in 12th spot on 22 points.
(With Reuters Inputs)