MADRID (AP) – Real Madrid held on to beat Sevilla 2-1 and increase their lead of the Spanish football league on Wednesday despite a spate of injuries and not counting on suspended forward Cristiano Ronaldo.
Madrid lost Sergio Ramos and James Rodriguez in an injury-plagued first half at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium that also claimed Sevilla goalkeeper Antonio “Beto” Bastos.
Rodriguez gave Madrid the 12th-minute lead before he left with hurt right foot in the 25th.
Beto needed to be carried off following a violent collision with Karim Benzema in the 35th, and a minute later substitute Jese Rodriguez made it 2-0.
Dangerous early, Sevilla also mustered a late push and substitute Iago Aspas scored to keep the result in doubt for the final 10 minutes.
Madrid lead Barcelona by four points.
Current standings tabulated under M-matches; W-wins, D-draws, L-losses, GS-goals scores, GA-goals against, GF-goals for, P-points.
Team M W D L GS GA GD P
1 Real Madrid 21 18 0 3 70 18 +52 54
2 Barcelona 21 16 2 3 57 11 +46 50
3 Atlético Madrid 21 15 2 4 43 20 +23 47
4 Sevilla 21 13 3 5 35 24 +11 42
5 Valencia 21 12 5 4 38 19 +19 41
6 Villarreal 21 11 5 5 35 20 +15 38
7 Málaga 21 10 5 6 24 21 +3 35
8 Eibar 21 7 6 8 25 29 -4 27
9 Espanyol 21 7 5 9 27 32 -5 26
10 Celta de Vigo 21 6 6 9 20 23 -3 24
11 Athletic Club 21 6 5 10 18 26 -8 23
12 Rayo Vallecano 21 7 2 12 22 38 -16 23
13 Real Sociedad 21 5 7 9 21 28 -7 22
14 Deportivo La Coruña 21 5 6 10 18 34 -16 21
15 Getafe 21 5 5 11 16 29 -13 20
16 Almería 21 5 4 12 18 33 -15 19
17 Córdoba 21 3 9 9 16 31 -15 18
18 Granada 21 3 9 9 14 33 -19 18
19 Elche 21 4 5 12 18 42 -24 17
20 Levante 21 3 7 11 13 37 -24 16
