Mbappe hits two as Real Madrid rout Sevilla

MADRID, OCT 19: Kylian Mbappe scored twice including one brilliant individual goal as Real Madrid thrashed Sevilla 4-1 on Sunday to climb into third in La Liga.

Arda Guler, who was fortunate to avoid an early red card for an elbow, netted a spectacular opener before Mbappe's double and a rocket from Yan Diomande as Jose Mourinho side moved above Real Betis.

Mbappe's first was a sensational strike, involving a roulette on the edge of Sevilla's box, and his second a chipped Panenka penalty.

Champions Barca are six points ahead of Real Madrid before next weekend's Clasico at Camp Nou after thrashing Betis on Saturday, with Atletico Madrid second, sandwiched between Spain's giants.

"We played a great game... we are a team and we work to improve, we've only been together for a very short time," Mourinho told Real Madrid TV.

"It's hard to have the calm that other coaches enjoy at other clubs, given the scale of Real Madrid, but we're making the most of every minute we have."

Mourinho lined up with Diomande on the left in place of suspended Brazilian winger Vinicius Junior, and brought Guler in as part of the midfield pivot.

Vinicius's red card for hair-pulling last weekend provoked ire in the Spanish capital at officiating in Spain.

Madrid fans at their Santiago Bernabeu stadium chanted and held up banners against La Liga president Javier Tebas, after he said the club's strategy of trying to discredit referees was similar to the techniques of Nazi propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels.

Los Blancos and their new coach Mourinho have complained bitterly about Spanish refereeing in recent weeks, and more generally over the past two seasons, in which they have failed to win a major trophy.

On this occasion it was Sevilla who had more to complain about in terms of officiating as Madrid eased to victory.

A quiet start was disrupted when Madrid midfielder Guler appeared to elbow Sevilla's Peque, which went unpunished midway through the first half.

"There's a match that's 11 against 11 where they deserve to win, without any doubt, but we were denied the chance to play another match," said upset Sevilla coach Luis Garcia Plaza.

"We were denied the chance to play a match of 11 against 10. From there on I don't want to talk about the match anymore. We should have been playing 11 against 10 from the 25th minute."

The coach said "maybe" Guler was not dismissed so Madrid did "not arrive nine points behind" Barca at the Clasico next weekend.

Mourinho said he had seen no replays of the incident which proved Guler had elbowed Peque.

Sevilla had resisted the probing of Madrid's attacking stars early on, but were undone by a moment of magic from Guler himself after 30 minutes.

Jude Bellingham played the ball out to the flank where record signing Diomande received it and fed Guler on the edge of the box.

The Turkish playmaker lofted a superb strike across Sevilla goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos and into the top corner.

Mbappe came close to adding a second with a lightning-quick burst down the pitch, but his low effort was saved. The French superstar soon got his goal, one of the best of the season.�"AFP