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.
“We’ve been doing things well but games had been slipping away from us,” Papu said post-match in comments carried by Marca. “We knew that we had to win no matter what to stay in the fight. I’m happy [to score his fourth goal of the season]. It builds confidence because it’s not just the strikers who have to score.”
The Argentine was then asked about Sevilla’s title ambitions. They’ve usually kept quiet on that front, but that’s something that’s changing as their goals become more and more explicit. “Dreaming costs nothing,” Papu said. “We want to reach the end of the season with possibilities and we’re going to give our best.”
