Kylian Mbappe scored twice including one brilliant individual goal as Real Madrid thrashed Sevilla 4-1 on Sunday to climb into third in LaLiga.
Arda Guler, who was fortunate to avoid an early red card for an elbow, netted a spectacular opener before Mbappe’s double and a rocket from Yan Diomande as Jose Mourinho side moved above Real Betis.
Mbappe’s first was a sensational strike, involving a roulette on the edge of Sevilla’s box, and his second a chipped Panenka penalty.
Champions Barca are six points ahead of Real Madrid before next weekend’s Clasico at Camp Nou after thrashing Betis on Saturday, with Atletico Madrid second, sandwiched between Spain’s giants. “We played a great game… we are a team and we work to improve, we’ve only been together for a very short time,” Mourinho told Real Madrid TV.
“It’s hard to have the calm that other coaches enjoy at other clubs, given the scale of Real Madrid, but we’re making the most of every minute we have.”
Mourinho lined up with Diomande on the left in place of suspended Brazilian winger Vinicius Junior, and brought Guler in as part of the midfield pivot.
Vinicius’s red card for hair-pulling last weekend provoked ire in the Spanish capital at officiating in Spain.
Madrid fans at their Santiago Bernabeu stadium chanted and held up banners against La Liga president Javier Tebas, after he said the club’s strategy of trying to discredit referees was similar to the techniques of Nazi propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels.
Los Blancos and their new Coach Mourinho have complained bitterly about Spanish refereeing in recent weeks, and more generally over the past two seasons, in which they have failed to win a major trophy.
On this occasion it was Sevilla who had more to complain about in terms of officiating as Madrid eased to victory.
A quiet start was disrupted when Madrid midfielder Guler appeared to elbow Sevilla’s Peque, which went unpunished midway through the first half.
“There’s a match that’s 11 against 11 where they deserve to win, without any doubt, but we were denied the chance to play another match,” said upset Sevilla coach Luis Garcia Plaza.
“We were denied the chance to play a match of 11 against 10. From there on I don’t want to talk about the match anymore. We should have been playing 11 against 10 from the 25th minute.”
The coach said “maybe” Guler was not dismissed so Madrid did “not arrive nine points behind” Barca at the Clasico next weekend.
Mourinho said he had seen no replays of the incident which proved Guler had elbowed Peque.
Sevilla had resisted the probing of Madrid’s attacking stars early on, but were undone by a moment of magic from Guler himself after 30 minutes.
Jude Bellingham played the ball out to the flank where record signing Diomande received it and fed Guler on the edge of the box.
The Turkish playmaker lofted a superb strike across Sevilla goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos and into the top corner.
Mbappe came close to adding a second with a lightning-quick burst down the pitch, but his low effort was saved.
The French superstar soon got his goal, one of the best of the season.
Bellingham backheeled the ball into Mbappe’s path and the forward produced a dazzling roulette turn into the area, before showing more skill to rapidly sidestep the goalkeeper and roll home.
Sevilla complained that striker Robbie Ure was fouled in the build-up, to no avail.
Mbappe extended the lead from the penalty spot after he went down under a light touch from Andres Castrin in the area.
The forward, who hopes to be crowned the best player in the world at the Ballon d’Or ceremony later in October, dinked home his ninth league goal of the season.
Sevilla pulled one back with a neat strike from Manuel Bueno, but there was no fightback on the cards.
Ivorian winger Diomande thumped home from outside of the box for his second goal since joining this summer from RB Leipzig, Madrid’s next opponents in the Champions League.
Earlier, Real Sociedad rose to fifth with a thumping 5-2 win at bottom side Malaga, Celta Vigo defeated Alaves 2-1 and Osasuna beat Racing Santander 2-0.