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Real Madrid survived an almighty scare and eked out a point against Sevilla in a pulsating 2-2 draw to keep their La Liga title hopes alive.
Diego Carlos' own goal in the fifth minute of stoppage time salvaged a valuable point for the holders, which brought them above Barcelona again in the points table. Atletico Madrid, however, remain two points ahead with just three games to play.
Fernando's first-half opener was canceled out by Marco Asensio in the 67th-minute with a peach of a strike, but Ivan Rakitic restored Sevilla's lead from the spot after Eder Militao was penalized for a handball.
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It seemed as if Los Blancos were headed for a defeat, which could've virtually ended their title hopes. But then Kroos popped up with a late, late strike which took a deflection off Eden Hazard and came last off Diego Carlos' heel.
All's not lost yet for Madrid. Three more games to go. Granada up next. Can they still win the league?
Here are the hits and flops from today's match:
Flop: Real Madrid
With both their rivals Barcelona and Atletico Madrid dropping points last night in a goalless stalemate, Real Madrid entered the match fully aware that a victory would put them back on top of La Liga. Unfortunately, the holders couldn't manage that, squandering yet another chance in the home stretch of the league title race.
Sevilla are somewhat of a boogie team for them, but Los Blancos normally do well against the Andalusians at home. But today just wasn't their day. With title hopes hanging in the balance, it wasn't the best time to mess up their record against Sevilla. Zinedine Zidane and co. wasted a huge, huge opportunity to reclaim title initiative.
Hit: Ivan Rakitic (Sevilla)
Knowing that his old side Barcelona had dropped crucial points the previous day, Ivan Rakitic must have thought of doing them a favor. His penalty, which helped take a point off Real Madrid tonight, might have gone a long way in doing exactly that.
Sure, the home side pulled one back and denied them a victory, but it's still two points dropped for them, all thanks to the Croatian's clinical finish from 12 yards. It still keeps the Catalans hot on Madrid's coattails and very much alive in this insane title race.
Flop: Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid)
Vinicius Junior, who was without a goal in nine league games, was given the chance to shine for Real Madrid. However, he wasted a huge opportunity in the second-half, making Zidane fall flat on his face.
The Brazilian, whose finishing continues to be highly inconsistent, failed to get a shot away from a free-kick inside the area with only Yassine Bounou to beat. He'd be left mulling what might have been had he just buried that chance.
Hit: Toni Kroos (Real Madrid)
It's almost impossible to imagine where Real Madrid would've been this season without Toni Kroos, who had a stormer in midfield once again. Well, some may attribute that late goal to Hazard, but there's no denying the German's involvement.
He was a wellspring of everything good coming from the holders; the chief passer of the ball in the final third, having also created two big chances, the first of which Vinicius clumsily ended up wasting. Kroos got his redemption with the assist for Asensio's goal.
It's a shame that despite such a colossal impact on the game, his side couldn't win.
Flop: The match official
If you were the video assistant referee, would you have considered that a handball and given Sevilla a penalty? In most cases, the answer would've been no, as Militao was in full motion at the time and his contact with the ball wasn't deliberate.
Yet the game's referee thought otherwise and penalized the Brazilian for that. We've seen incidents like this before, in La Liga and beyond, while many of them ended up with match officials not seeing that as a penalty.
If anything, tonight was another reminder of why there needs to be a clear handball rule, as even VAR isn't helping in such controversial moments.
