Mueez Ajao
– Second-placed Sevilla beat bitter rivals Real Betis 2-1 on Sunday to close the gap on LaLiga leaders Real Madrid to six points.
– Julen Lopetegui’s team dominated the derby from the beginning and Ivan Rakitic opened the scoring in the 24th minute with a penalty after goalkeeper Claudio Bravo had tripped striker Youssef En Nesyri in a one-on-one challenge inside the area.
– Four minutes before the break, Munir El Haddadi, who had come on minutes earlier for the injured Papu Gomez, took advantage of a mistake from the Betis defence to win the ball and put a low cross-shot between Bravo and his left post.
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– Sergio Canales scored the consolation goal for Betis in stoppage time with a perfect free kick from the edge of the box that went into the top left corner.
– Sevilla moved up to 54 points from 26 games, eight ahead of Betis in third but still behind Real Madrid, who lead with 60.
– After one win in their last five league games, Sevilla needed victory on Sunday to keep alive their ambitions of winning the title for the first time since 1946.
– They stepped up with a convincing performance against in-form Betis, who had been honing in on second place as their local rivals struggled.
– “We will fight until the end,” Munir said.
– “I started on the bench and was enjoying how my team mates were playing. Going on and scoring is awesome. Winning a Seville derby is incredible; it will be a long Sunday night of celebration for our fans.”
