Staff Reporter.
Luka Modric rolled back the years with a sublime late winner against Sevilla as Real Madrid moved eight points clear at the top of La Liga.
With England midfielder Jude Bellingham absent for Real for a third consecutive game, the contest looked to be heading towards a goalless draw.
However, Croatia midfielder Modric, 38, curled in seven minutes after his introduction as a substitute.
Lucas Vazquez had earlier had a goal disallowed for the hosts.
The Real full-back’s effort was chalked off after a lengthy Video Assistant Referee (VAR) review concluded that home defender Nacho had fouled forward Youssef En-Nesyri in the build-up.
Federico Valverde also went close for Carlo Ancelotti’s side, hitting the post early in the second half, although in the main a Sevilla defence that was well marshalled by former Real great Sergio Ramos, stood firm.
Second-placed Barcelona are on 57 points, with Girona a point further back in third, who play their game in hand on the top two against Rayo Vallecano on Monday (20:00 GMT).
“It takes a lot of practice every day, every day,” Modric told DAZN regarding his stunning winner. “You can see me practising shooting at goal for hours every day. In football you have to shoot, I did it today and it went in.
“Persistence is one of our strengths, we never stop, we insist, we create and we look for it until the end. We knew that we couldn’t let the points slip away from us today because Barcelona had come so close and we couldn’t let that happen.
“That insistence throughout the match paid off. These are three very important points for this league.”
The result leaves Sevilla in 15th spot with 24 points, six points above the relegation zone.