Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior celebrates a goal during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Sevilla and Real Madrid at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan stadium in Seville, Spain, Saturday Dec. 5
Real Madrid edged Sevilla 1-0 Saturday to end a three-game winless streak in the Spanish league and ease the pressure on coach Zinedine Zidane.
An own-goal by Sevilla goalkeeper Yassine “Bono” Bounou in the 55th minute after a touch by Vinícius Júnior gave Madrid the victory at the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán Stadium.
Madrid arrived in Seville with Zidane under fire after the team had won only one of its last five matches in all competitions. It had lost two of its last three league games, including 2-1 against Alavés at home last weekend.
Madrid and Sevilla were coming off tough losses in the Champions League — Madrid lost 2-0 at Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday, while Sevilla was routed 4-0 at home by Chelsea on Wednesday. Sevilla is already through to the knockout stage, but Madrid will decide its fate in the final round of the group stage.
Sevilla had won three straight in the league, including the last two at home.
Madrid had never gone four straight matches without a win in the league under Zidane.
Madrid had the most significant chances in the first half, being stopped by a few good saves from Bono. The hosts almost opened the scoring with a bicycle kick from striker Luuk de Jong in the 52nd, but three minutes later Vinícius Júnior helped put Madrid on the board after a cross by Ferland Mendy from the left flank. The Brazilian forward redirected the ball with a soft touch and it hit Bono before going into the goal.
Lucas Ocampos nearly equalized with an 85th-minute volley which Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois did well to save.
Zidane again couldn’t count on Eden Hazard and Sergio Ramos because of injuries. Sevilla lost forward Munir El-Haddadi because of an apparent muscle injury just before halftime.
Atlético Madrid can take the Spanish league lead for the first time with a home win against Valladolid later on Saturday, while Barcelona tries to win its second in a row in the league when it visits promoted Cádiz.
OTHER RESULTS
Levante won 3-0 at home against Getafe, which finished the match with nine men after the sending off of José Manuel “Chema” Rodríguez in the seventh minute and Djené Dakoman in the 77th.
Levante, which had drawn its last five matches 1-1 and was in the relegation zone, scored with Roger Martí in the fifth minute, Dani Gómez in the 17th and Jorge de Frutos in the 57th. The club from Valencia hadn’t won in eight straight matches.
Getafe, which dropped to 13th place, hasn’t won in six league matches, since beating Barcelona 1-0 in October.
