Real Madrid once again relied on this season’s theme of scoring late goals to help beat Sevilla at home and respond aptly to Barcelona’s challenge.
Luka Modric, Lucas Vazquez and Federico Valverde were on target during the 3-1 win while Erik Lamela scored the only goal for the visitors.
The win over Sevilla once again opens up a six-point gap between Real Madrid and Barcelona at the top of the La Liga table.
Modric took just five minutes to put Madrid ahead when he put away Vinicius Jr’s cross into an empty net before the home wasted squandered several opportunities to increase their lead.
Without the Ballon D’Or winner Karim Benzema up front, Madrid was made to pay for its wastefulness when Lamela found a way past the defence to equalise in the 54th minute.
There was a sense of urgency for the La Liga champions after conceding with Vini and Valverde finding extra gear all of a sudden.
Vinicius once again turned provider in the 79th minute when he found Vazquez inside the box who scored with a precise shot to give Madrid the much-deserved lead.
Valverde wrapped up the points with another precise shot from outside the box for his third goal in as many games.
The defeat means Sevilla have won just two of their 11 matches this season and sit just two points above the relegation zone.