Real Madrid have moved to within one point of second-placed Atletico Madrid in the La Liga table courtesy of a 4-0 win over an injury-hit Sevilla at the Bernabeu on Sunday night.
Karim Benzema, Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, and Jese Rodriguez were all on the scoresheet for Los Blancos in a match that also saw both teams miss from the penalty spot and both have goals wrongly disallowed for offside.
Bale's strike, which came in the 66th minute, saw him become the top scoring British player in La Liga history (43) ahead of former Barcelona forward Gary Lineker.
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Sergio Ramos and Pepe both missed out for Real Madrid through suspension, which opened up spots at centre-back for Nacho and Raphael Varane. Benzema, meanwhile, returned from a hamstring problem at centre-forward.
Out-of-favour pair Isco and James Rodriguez, however, remained on the bench, with Zinedine Zidane favouring Casemiro in midfield alongside Luka Modric and Toni Kroos.
As for Sevilla, Ever Banega missed out through suspension, while Yevhen Konoplyanka and Steven N'Zonzi were both unavailable through injury. Diogo Figueiras and Sergio Escudero came into the wide midfield positions, while it was Kevin Gameiro ahead of Fernando Llorente in the final third.
An open start saw both teams enjoy positive moments and a cross from Sevilla left-back Benoit Tremoulinas landed on the top of the Real Madrid crossbar in just the third minute of action.
It was the home side that took the lead in the sixth minute, however, when Bale delivered a cross in to Benzema and the Frenchman found the back of the net with a half-volley.
Sevilla were full of energy in the early minutes though and Gameiro should have done better from a Figueiras flick in the eighth minute of action.
A save from Sevilla stopper Sergio Rico then prevented Bale from making it 2-0 in the 16th minute, before the Welsh attacker wrongly had a goal chalked off for offside from the resulting corner.
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Rico was again called into action in the 19th minute to keep out a stinging Ronaldo strike, before the stopper made an even better one-handed save to keep out Ronaldo once again three minutes later.
It was almost a personal battle between Rico and Real Madrid's attack at the Bernabeu, and the 22-year-old continued to show the type of form that has elevated him into the Spain squad.
Sevilla were given a golden chance to level in the 27th minute when Varane was penalised for tugging Adil Rami's shirt inside the penalty box, but Gameiro's spot kick was kept out by the diving Keylor Navas.
Benzema and Bale continued to pepper the Sevilla goal in the latter stages of the first period, but despite having 14 first-half attempts - nine of which were on target - just one goal separated the pair at the break.
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Bale once again set up Benzema as Real Madrid came close to a second in the 48th minute, but the striker's effort was over the crossbar, before Vicente Iborra passed up an excellent chance down the other end.
Real Madrid had a penalty of their own in the 57th minute when Jose Antonio Reyes clumsily felled Modric inside the box, but Ronaldo fired into the stands as both teams failed from the spot at the Bernabeu.
Within the next three minutes, the home side had two wonderful chances to score a second, but Kroos saw his sensational strike just miss the crossbar, before Bale rattled the woodwork with a close-ranger header.
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Sevilla had the ball in the back of the net in the 61st minute when Gameiro volleyed home from close range, but the linesman had his flag raised despite replays showing that the Frenchman was level with Varane.
Due to the end-to-end nature of the match, a second goal was coming and it arrived in the 64th minute when Ronaldo converted a low Danilo cross to send Real Madrid 2-0 ahead with little over 25 minutes to play.
Less than two minutes later, it was 3-0 as Bale found the back of the net from close range after Benzema had lifted the ball over the onrushing Rico, who was left exposed by his defence.
Both managers made changes in the minutes that followed, with Bale and Casemiro both given standing ovations as Jese and James Rodriguez entered the final 20 minutes of action.
Gameiro brought another save from Navas late on, but there was still time for one more goal and it came for Real Madrid as Jese swept home in the 86th minute.
Next up for Real Madrid is the Clasico against Barcelona after the international break. Meanwhile, Sevilla, who remain sixth in the table and still six points off fourth-placed Villarreal, will host Real Sociedad on April 3.
Matt Law
