Underfire manager Zinedine Zidane could heave a sigh of relief as an own goal from Moroccan keeper Yassine Bounou gave Real Madrid a 1-0 win at Sevilla’s Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan.
The pressure was beginning to mount on Madrid’s head coach after an unsteady start to the season in La Liga and in the Champions League.
Although Madrid carved out plenty of chances to beat Sevilla comfortably, they could not find a decisive finish, until the home side’s goalkeeper ran out of luck in the second half.
Zidane needed this reprieve going up against ex-Los Blancos boss Julen Lopetegui after a midweek defeat to Shakhtar Donetsk that put Madrid in a tight spot in Europe.
The visitors spurned a glorious first-minute chance when right winger Rodrygo found Vinicius Junior unmarked in the penalty area, but a low shot towards the far corner bounced just wide.
In the fifth minute, Sevilla keeper Bounou almost gifted Madrid an opener when his attempted clearance rattled against Vinicius and looped across goal. Striker Karim Benzema was waiting to nod in from close range but was beaten to the ball by defender Diego Carlos, who cushioned a header to the relieved Bounou.
The Madrid duo of central midfielder Toni Kroos and Benzema went close before the break, only to meet with more Sevilla resistance. However, that resistance was ended on the 55th-minute mark.
Frenchman Benzema’s clever pass picked out defender Freeland Mendy on the left, and his low cross should have been ideal for Vinicius but turned out to be far from it for Bounou who turned it into his own goal.
Such head-in-hands moment made Bounou the first Sevilla goalkeeper to score an own goal in La Liga in the 21st century.
Substitute Sevilla forward Suso went close to a spectacular equaliser but sent his shot just too high, with Courtois thankful to see it zip off target. Then, in the 86th minute, Madrid’s goalkeeper saved well from Ocampos’ acrobatic volley to seal the points.
The Spanish champions climbed to third on the table with this win and it will give Zidane some succour. They were comfortably the better side until Sevilla came to life in the closing stages and began raining shots on the visitors’ goal.
Sevilla will next go to Rennes in the final round of Champions League group games on Tuesday and are already assured of a last-16 place. Madrid face a more significant match at home against Borussia Monchengladbach on Wednesday, when they may need to win to reach the knockout stage.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
