Real Madrid 4-1 Sevilla, 5 Talking Points: La Liga 2016-17
After an entertaining match at the Santiago Bernabeu, Real Madridstill holds all the aces as La Liga enters its climax. Nacho Fernandez’s cheeky freekick, Cristiano Ronaldo’s sublime brace and Toni Kroos’ insouciant outside-of-the-boot finish cancelled out a very good Steven Jovetic goal as Madrid continued on their inexorable march to greatness this season. Zinedine Zidane’s men looked nervous with the score at 2-1 entering the hour mark but Madrid powered through the final half-hour and the match ended a rout in favour of the home side
1. Nacho Fernandez’s quick thinking deserves a salute
When the effervescent Marco Asensio was brought down by a gaggle of Sevillanos just outside their penalty box, the defence, the goalkeeper, the Bernabeu and indeed the entire world prepared for that trademark Cristiano Ronaldo free-kick routine. Instead, what happened took everyone by surprise – Nacho Fernandez, lurking in the area, noticed that the ref had blown his whistle and pointed his arm in the direction of the Sevilla goal, the actions that indicate the freekick may be taken. and while Sergio Rico was busy arranging his wall he simply walked upto where Asensio had placed the ball and stroke it into the unguarded net.
While the entirety of Seville’s visiting party erupted in righteous indignation, Nacho and company wheeled off in celebration of what is a perfectly legal goal. There’s something wonderful about witnessing such utter auadacity, and indeed cheekiness, at the very top level.
Some way to create a record, too