Sevilla 0-1 Real Madrid: King Karim makes the difference
Benzema's second half header earned Madrid a narrow win in Andalusia
Karim Benzema’s header earned Real Madrid a 1-0 win at Sevilla that takes Los Blancos joint top of La Liga on Sunday.
SEV
0 ________________ 1
MAD
LINE UP
Sevilla
Valcík, Navas, Diego Carlos, Carriço (Nolito, 81'), Reguilón Fernando, Banega, Jordán (Chicharito, 69'), Vázquez (Oliver Torres, 51'), Ocampos, De Jong
Real Madrid
Courtois, Carvajal, Varane, Ramos, Mendy, Casemiro, Kroos, James (Valverde, 75'), Bale, Hazard y Benzema
Goles
0-1, Benzema (64')
Árbitro
Martínez Munuera (Valenciano). TA: Banega (25'), Lopetegui (27'), Jordán (52'), De Jong (90') / Carvajal (19'), Ramos (61')
Incidencias
Sánchez Pizjuán, 40.000 espectadores
Madrid are level on 11 points from five games with Athletic Bilbao.
Zinedine Zidane’s side bounced back from a 3-0 thrashing by Paris St. Germain in midweek to come up with an impressive display in the south of Spain.
They didn’t concede a single shot on target for the first time since August 2016.
Eden Hazard and Dani Carvajal saw Tomas Vaclik keep out shots in the first half, but the stopper was beaten by Benzema’s 65th minute header.
It was the Frenchman’s fifth of the season, making him joint top scorer with Gerard Moreno of Villarreal.
Javier Hernandez had a late goal ruled out for offside, but Sevilla didn’t offer much - they seemed tired from their Thursday night Europa League travails in Baku.
"Madrid are always hungry and mad to win," said Ramos. "The team is always very optimistic, it is improving.
"We’re level with Athletic in the table and we have to keep improving as a team and taking advantage of the chances that come our way."
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