Sevilla 0-1 Real Madrid: 5 hits and flops as Yassine Bounou's own goal lifts Los Blancos | La Liga 2020-21
Real Madrid returned to winning ways after three games, as the reigning La Liga champions beat Sevilla 1-0 at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan on Saturday.
Sevilla goalkeeper Yassine Bounou squandered Vinicius Junior's effort into his own net as Los Blancos won in Seville for the second consecutive time in the league.
Los Rojiblancos, who've so often caused Madrid plenty of trouble here, struggled creatively today. However, they saw two overhead kicks from Luuk de Jong and Lucas Ocampos saved by Thibaut Courtois in the second half.
The defeat was their fourth of the season in La Liga and second in just four days, having been routed 4-0 by Chelsea in the Champions League earlier in the week.
Here are the hits and flops from the match:
Hit: Luka Modric (Real Madrid)
It was another vintage performance from the ageless Croatian today, who was simply the best player for his side and made an impact at both ends of the pitch. He was press-resistant, making some nice touches under pressure and driving the ball out of tight areas, and helped free up space for Rodrygo on the right.
Modric helped cover defensively too. He covered for Nacho when the latter was caught upfield by shifting to the opposite flank. Modric also dealt with the marauding Aleix Vidal nicely whenever Rodrygo drew too far upfield.
He even took one for the team by catching Fernando after the Brazilian appeared to launch into an attack.
It's almost impossible to believe the work-rate the 35-year old shows week in, week out. Perhaps that's what separates him from the ordinary for Real Madrid.
Flop: Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid)
He forced the own goal in the match after brilliantly anticipating Mendy's cross, but that was the only highlight of an otherwise poor game from the Brazilian. His first touches were woefully poor and he even missed a great chance to put Real Madrid ahead in the first half.
It was really frustrating to watch him waste some attacking moves because he either couldn't control the ball well or took a touch that was too heavy. More embarrassingly, he failed to even connect with the ball from just a yard out when it bounced right in front of him.
His evening came to a positive end eventually. He helped seal another victory for Real Madrid and attempted the most dribbles on the night (8). However, he's still far from a finished article and needs to work on his finishing too.