Sevilla beat Elche 2-0 at the Sanchez-Pizjuan on Friday night in a crucial La Liga fixture. Papu Gomez broke the deadlock for the hosts in the 70th minute before Anthony Martial, making his home debut, assisted Rafa Mir to make it 2-0 five minutes later.
The victory meant that Sevilla cut the gap to league leaders Real Madrid to just three points, and it was timely given it came after a run of three consecutive draws for the Andalusian outfit.
Madrid play Villarreal at La Ceramica this afternoon but their minds won’t be fully on-task as they also play Paris Saint-Germain in the last 16 of the Champions League this Tuesday.
Sevilla are also still alive in European competition, of course, and take on Dinamo Zagreb in the first straight knockout round of the Europa League at the Sanchez-Pizjuan on Thursday evening. But it’s La Liga that they really want. They’ve not won it since way back in the 1945/46 season and have an outstanding chance.
Sevilla coach Julen Lopetegui was satisfied speaking post-match due to “the result and the game,” he said in comments carried by Marca. “The team played a good game against a tough rival and I think we overcame them. In the first half we weren’t successful but in the second we were able to score and justice was done.
“It was a complete game against a strong opponent and we’re happy about it. Dynamics are there to be broken, both good and bad. We always want to win. We hadn’t done it for three games and we had chances to win in all three. Today was no exception. We went out to win the game and we’ll do the same in the next.”
