Mbappé's penalty and a goal at both ends put Real Madrid 4-1 past Sevilla at the Bernabéu

Real Madrid controlled the ball for long spells and still needed four different goals to put Sevilla away. Arda Güler broke the deadlock, Kylian Mbappé doubled his tally with a goal and a penalty, and when Sevilla pulled one back with ten minutes left, Yan Diomande answered within two minutes to settle it at 4-1.

Güler opened the scoring on 30 minutes, converting a Yan Diomande pass, and seven minutes later Mbappé made it two, finishing off a Jude Bellingham assist. Real Madrid went into the break two goals to the good without having to work especially hard for either of them — 65% of the ball in the first half alone, with Sevilla restricted to breaking forward on the counter.

Mbappé from the spot, then Sevilla find a way back

Mbappé added his second of the night from the penalty spot on 63 minutes, a goal that in isolation looked to settle any remaining doubt. Sevilla had other ideas. Manu Bueno, on for the final half hour, turned in a Lucas Stassin cross on 80 minutes to make it 3-1 and give the visitors something to play for in the closing stages. It lasted all of two minutes: Diomande, who had set up the opener, got on the scoresheet himself on 82, finishing off an Aurélien Tchouaméni pass to restore the three-goal cushion and take the game out of Sevilla's reach for good.

Match facts

• 30' — Arda Güler (Real Madrid), assist Yan Diomande
• 37' — Kylian Mbappé (Real Madrid), assist Jude Bellingham
• 63' — Kylian Mbappé (Real Madrid), penalty
• 80' — Manu Bueno (Sevilla), assist Lucas Stassin
• 82' — Yan Diomande (Real Madrid), assist Aurélien Tchouaméni

Line-ups

José Mourinho sent out a 4-2-3-1 built around Jude Bellingham and Kylian Mbappé, with Endrick leading the line and Yan Diomande wide. Thibaut Courtois, Dean Huijsen, Ibrahima Konaté and Marc Cucurella held the back four. Brahim Díaz, Carlos Espí, Éder Militão, Bernardo Silva and Eduardo Camavinga came off the bench. Sevilla matched the shape with Odisseas Vlachodimos in goal and Rubén Vargas, Felix Correia and Robbie Ure supporting a front line fed by Youssouf Fofana and Lucien Agoumé in midfield; Chidera Ejuke, José Ángel Carmona, Alfonso González, Lucas Stassin and Manu Bueno were introduced during the second half, with Stassin and Bueno combining for the visitors' goal within minutes of arriving.

Dean Huijsen and Marc Cucurella, early and late bookings

Both sides picked up two cautions apiece. Dean Huijsen and Sevilla's Felix Correia were both booked in the same 23rd minute, and Juan Iglesias followed for the visitors on 69 before Marc Cucurella was shown yellow for Madrid four minutes later. Nobody saw red, and the discipline in front of goal mattered more than the discipline in the tackle: Madrid had eight shots on target from a lopsided share of possession, while Sevilla's five on target, mostly on the break, were enough to produce one real goal and the Manu Bueno consolation.

A team that doesn't need to be at its sharpest to win

This was Real Madrid's sixth win in eight La Liga games this season, a run interrupted only by back-to-back away defeats at Real Betis and Atlético Madrid in September. Those two results had looked like they might cost Mourinho's side the title race early; instead, Madrid have strung together wins over Villarreal and now Sevilla either side of a battling Champions League win away at Roma, 4-3, on 14 October. The pattern across that stretch has been control without always needing to be clinical — Villarreal were held to a single Madrid goal on 10 October, while Sevilla conceded four despite competing for long periods and restricting Madrid's shots to single figures on target.

Sevilla's stop-start month continues

Sevilla arrived at the Bernabéu on the back of an uneven run of their own — a draw, a win, a win, a defeat and another draw across their last five league matches, including a 3-3 scramble away at Levante on 12 October in which they twice surrendered a lead before salvaging a point. There is a recognisable shape to how Sevilla's season has gone: battered by Barcelona and Atlético Madrid in September, 1-3 in both games, but resilient enough against teams nearer their own level to pick up points against Valencia, Deportivo and Rayo Vallecano. Real Madrid simply sit above that level, and even an improved final half hour from the visitors — enough to produce a goal and a string of second-half chances — never seriously threatened the result.

What's next

Real Madrid went into this round fourth in La Liga on 18 points from eight games, one behind Real Betis in third; the win takes them to 21, pending the table's update for the rest of matchday 9. Sevilla had been fifth on 14 points from eight games, with a +1 goal difference for the season; this defeat, their third in the league, pushes that into negative territory once the table is updated for the round. Madrid remain involved on two fronts, having come through a 4-3 Champions League win away at Roma four days before this one.