Real Madrid produced a dominant attacking display to defeat Sevilla 4-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday, moving within six points of La Liga leaders Barcelona ahead of next weekend's El Clasico.
Playing without the suspended Vinicius Jr, the home side opened the scoring after Arda Guler received a pass from Yan Diomande and curled an effort into the top corner. Sevilla had earlier protested for a red card following an incident between Guler and Peque Fernandez. Kylian Mbappe made it 2-0 in the 37th minute, turning sharply to breach the visitors' backline and slotting past goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos.
Sevilla attempted to rally early in the second half, but Fede Valverde, stationed at right back by coach Jose Mourinho, produced a decisive block to stop Felix Correia. Diomande then exploited Sevilla's high line to release Mbappe, who was tripped in the box by Andres Castrin. Mbappe took the resulting spot kick himself to register his second of the night.
Sevilla substitute Manu Bueno capitalised on a mistake by Mbappe deep in Madrid territory to pull a goal back ten minutes from time. Real Madrid responded just two minutes later as Diomande completed an impressive individual display with a powerful finish. The match also marked the return of defender Eder Militao, who came on as an 85th-minute substitute for his first appearance since undergoing hamstring surgery in April.
The result secured Madrid's third consecutive victory across all competitions and lifted the club to third place on 21 points, one point adrift of Atletico Madrid and six behind Barcelona. Sevilla stayed in sixth place on 14 points.
Barcelona had maintained their flawless start to the domestic campaign on Saturday by defeating Real Betis 5-2. Elsewhere in La Liga, Atletico Madrid claimed a 1-0 win at Espanyol, Osasuna marked manager Jagoba Arrasate's return with a 2-0 victory against Racing Santander, Celta Vigo held off Alaves 2-1, and Real Sociedad triumphed 5-2 at Malaga.
