MADRID: Real Madrid earned a therapeutic 2-0 victory at home to Sevilla with late strikes from Casemiro and Luka Modric as Santiago Solari's stuttering side leapfrogged the Andalusians into the third spot in La Liga on Saturday.
Brazilian midfielder Casemiro unleashed a stinging shot from outside the area which was too powerful for outstretched keeper Tomas Vaclik, giving the European champions a deserved lead in the 78th minute after they dominated the second half.
Teenage forward Vinicius Jr was again Madrid's most dangerous outlet and had come close to breaking the deadlock with a scooping shot that just crept wide of the post before Casemiro finally broke the deadlock.
Dani Ceballos, the match-winner in last week's scrappy 2-1 victory at Real Betis, had also earlier hammered the bar as Madrid took the game by the scruff of the neck at a rainy and cold Santiago Bernabeu after a drab first half of few chances.
Modric finally sealed the victory in stoppage time with a cool finish, giving Solari's team a second straight win after their poor start to 2019, having drawn at Villarreal and lost at home to Real Sociedad.
The victory saw Madrid climb to third place on 36 points, three ahead of Sevilla who have failed to win in their last four league outings, while Barcelona, who hosts Leganes on Sunday, is top with 43.
Solari again left out experienced left-back Marcelo, in favour of youngster Sergio Reguilon, and Spain midfielder Isco but was boosted by the return of Lucas Vazquez from suspension and Karim Benzema, who wore a bandage on a fractured finger. Benzema teed up Vinicius early in the game but the Brazilian fired straight at Vaclik under the Sevilla bar.
Sevilla had only one chance of note in the whole game, which left-back Sergio Escudero put just wide of the near post.
