A late header from captain Dani Carvajal secured Real Madrid a 1-1 draw at Sevilla on Saturday as the LaLiga leaders battled back after David Alaba‘s own goal had given the hosts a shock lead.
Madrid moved on to 25 points from 10 games, three ahead of Girona, the surprise packages of the season who host bottom side Almeria on Sunday.
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Barcelona, third on 21 points, face Athletic Bilbao on Sunday.
Wasteful Madrid had two early efforts disallowed and fell behind after an own goal by defender Alaba in the 74th minute before Carvajal’s towering close-range header levelled the scores four minutes later.
“It was an even, competitive game with intensity,” Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti said afterward. “We started well but didn’t take the chances we had. In the second half Sevilla played well, with intensity. The result seems right to be. It was a draw, we tried, Sevilla tried.”
He added: “In the first half Rodrygo and Vinicius [Junior] with the support of the team created a lot of chances, we were close to scoring. The second half was more difficult, we lacked a bit of energy, we suffered a bit more and we didn’t have the control we wanted.”
