Sevilla have increased the pressure on leaders Real Madrid in the La Liga title race with a 2-0 win over Elche at Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan on Friday. Julen Lopetegui’s side got the lead through Papu Gomez on 70 minutes and five minutes later, Rafa Mir doubled the lead to seal Sevilla’ victory and secure all three points. The win helped second-placed Sevilla to 50 points from 24 games, just three points behind Real Madrid who will play Villarreal on Saturday. Los Blancos will be without injured striker Karim Benzema, who is the league’s top scorer with 17.
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Volvemos a la senda de la victoria con tres puntos muy trabajados.
¡Vamos, ?? ???????! ⚪️?#WeareSevilla #NuncaTeRindas #SevillaFCElche pic.twitter.com/lImHV1pPwG
— Sevilla Fútbol Club (@SevillaFC) February 11, 2022
Sevilla came into the match on the back of three consecutive draws and had threatened to let Real Madrid run away in the title race. The title race is already effectively down to just two teams because of the struggles of defending champions Atletico Madrid and Barcelona.
Injuries had played a part in Sevilla’s dip while Ivan Rakitic missing an injury-time penalty in the goalless draw with Osasuna last weekend was particularly hard to take.
The hosts struggled to dominate the game in front of a ruckus home crowd at the Estadio Ram Sanchez Pizjuan with captain Rakitic brilliantly denied either side of the break. Youssef En-Nesyri proved wasteful, missing three scoring opportunities in the first 20 minutes of a scrappy game with little attacking football.
The striker was replaced with fellow Moroccan international Munir El Haddadi after the break. With 20 minutes remaining, Lopetegui’s side scored two goals in the space of five minutes to grab all three points.
Gomez got past three defenders before his shot took a deflection off an Elche player and went inside the goal. Anthony Martial, who had joined Sevila from Manchester United in the January transfer window, crossed for substitute Mir to head home and seal the win. For Elche, it was their first defeat of the year after arriving in Seville buoyed by an upturn in form after winning three of their last four games.
“We had been playing well but had let the results slip away. We knew that we had to win today one way or another to stay in the fight,” Gomez said after his fourth goal of the season.
“It is easy to dream (of winning the title). We want to reach the end of season with hour options alive.”