La Liga: Real Madrid crash to 3-2 away defeat to Sevilla

Konoplyanka’s inspired second half display was the prime reason behind Sevilla’s revival

Sevilla handed Real Madrid their first defeat of the season in all competitions as they won 3-2 at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan in Seville late on Sunday night. The home side came from behind to triumph over a Real Madrid side which switched off completely after the first quarter of the game.

Real welcomed back Gareth Bale who was starting the match after missing four of his side’s matches through injury. They also saw the return of Columbian sensation James Rodriguez, but he only made the bench.

Skipper Sergio Ramos had put the away side in the lead with a magnificent bicycle kick from a corner on 24 minutes but suffered an injury to his shoulder as he landed awkwardly after scoring the goal. Ciro Immobile scored from an unlikely angle in the 38^th minute to spark a Sevilla comeback.

Second half goals from Ever Banega and substitute Fernando Llorente was enough for the hosts to grab all three points despite a fine solo effort from James Rodriguez two minutes into stoppage time.

The defeat leaves Real Madrid in second place after 11 matches, three points behind rivals Barcelona who completed a comfortable 3-0 win over Villareal earlier in the night. Meanwhile, Sevilla climb to 10^th place hoping to kick-start their season after tonight’s morale-boosting victory over the Madrid giants.

Squads

Sevilla: Rico, Mariano, Rami, Andreolli, Tremoulinas, Krychowiak, N’Zonzi, Vitolo, Banega, Konoplyanka, Immobile.

Subs: Soria, Kolodziejczak, Krohn-Dehli, Iborra, Coke, Reyes, Llorente.

Real Madrid: Casilla, Ramos, Pepe, Nacho, Casemiro, Kroos, Modric, Isco, Bale, Ronaldo.

Subs: Alabart, Arbeloa, Varane, Jese, Kovacic, Rodriguez, Lucas.

First Half

Real Madrid started the game on the front foot. They attacked with purpose and pressed hard when they lost the ball, a part of their game which has increased significantly under Rafael Benitez. They never allowed the home side time on the ball. Real twice went close in the first 15 minutes with Ronaldo and Nacho both going close to opening their side’s account.

But it was Sergio Ramos who broke the deadlock in the 24^th minute. The skipper produced an exquisite bicycle kick directly from a corner delivery from almost 16 yards out which will surely feature as one of the goals of the season. Unfortunately, by doing so he injured his shoulder as he landed awkwardly and had to be taken off and replaced by Raphael Varane.

Sevilla gradually came into the match with good build up play and efforts on target. They were finally rewarded for their persistence as they equalised through Ciro Immobile on 38 minutes as he scored from the narrowest of angles after a corner delivery was allowed to move across the face of Casilla’s goal. The Italian could have had another just five minutes later as he failed to make proper contact from a cross from the left flank.

The half ended with the score at 1-1 but Sevilla clearly had the momentum going in their favour.

Second Half

Sevilla, not surprisingly, started the second half in inspired fashion having their tails up after a strong finish to the first half. Banega and new summer import Konoplyanka went close to scoring in the first ten minutes. The home side deservedly took the lead on 61 minutes after some great work by Konoplyanka who squared the ball for Banega to slot home into an empty net.

The goal seemed to knock the stuffing out of Los Blancos as they never seemed to recover from the blow. From that moment on it was all Sevilla as Real failed to muster meaningful efforts. The home side took the lead in the 76^th minute through Llorente who was criminally left unmarked by the Real defence to head past Casilla with aplomb.

Substitute James Rodriguez did pull a goal back against the run of play with a fine solo effort into the bottom corner but it was too late for the Madrid giants. Unai Emery’s closed the game out comfortably to take a well deserved three points.

Rafa Benitez has some work to do as his side looked jaded and never really in top form. With two back to back poor performances, the other being the lucky 1-0 win over an impressive Paris Saint-Germain midweek, the manager has his work cut out in getting his side back firing on all cylinders.