Anthony Martial Shines As Sevilla Beat Elche 2-0 On Friday Night To Narrow The Gap On Real Madrid At The Top Of La Liga

Anthony Martial stars as Sevilla defeated Elche 2-0 on Friday night to narrow the gap on Real Madrid at the top of La Liga.

Papu Gomez and Rafa Mir scored goals to give their team all three points against a depleted opposition.

The gap between second-placed Sevilla and league leaders Real is now just three points.

Real Madrid will go to Villarreal on Saturday afternoon and might reclaim a six-point lead once their game is concluded. Sevilla now has a 10-point advantage over Real Betis in third place and appears to be on track to qualify for the Champions League.

The Andalusians were forced to wait as they struggled to break down their opponents, with Gomez breaking the deadlock after 70 minutes.
Mir extended their lead five minutes later, with Anthony Martial – who signed on loan from Manchester United for the remainder of the season last month – playing a key role by sending a beautiful cross.

Elche is now 14th in the table, eight points ahead of the bottom three.

Los Nervionenses have already closed the gap on Real Madrid, despite having played one more game than their title rivals.

Sevilla added Martial and Jess Corona to its attack in the winter transfer market after emerging as the primary threat to Madrid following the problems of defending champion Atlético Madrid and Barcelona. Sevilla saw an opportunity to add to its 1946 league title.

However, the Andalusian side lately sputtered and was on a run of three straight league draws, threatening to allow Madrid to pull away with the title race, which is now basically down to just two sides.

Sevilla was hoping for a repeat performance against an Elche side that had drew 2-2 with Real Madrid two weeks previously. Sevilla’s finest attack came from Ivan Rakitic, who had two attempts stopped by Bada.

That’s when Gómez’s outstanding solo effort finally broke the tie.

On Thursday, when Sevilla hosts Dinamo Zagreb in the first leg of their Europa League knockout round play-off, Martial might make his Europa League debut.

The Spanish club is vying for a record-tying seventh Europa League title.