Sevilla posts impressive win over Real Madrid

Soccer Betting Lines

11/03/2007 - Seville, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Seydou Keita and Luis Fabiano scored two minutes apart in the first half as Sevilla posted an impressive 2-0 victory over Real Madrid on Saturday.

Keita's goal was an unstoppable blast in the 19th minute and Fabiano followed in the 21st to grab a share of the La Liga scoring lead with seven goals.

Sevilla (5-5-0), which lost five of its first seven matches while mourning the death of teammate Antonio Puerta, has won three of its last four.

All of Sevilla's wins during the surge have been shutouts - the other match was a 4-3 loss at Atletico Madrid on Wednesday.

Saturday's victory over first-place and defending champion Real Madrid was easily the biggest win this season for Sevilla.

Sevilla, which has won the last two UEFA Cups, created chances from the start and just missed taking the lead in the 11th minute when Frederic Kanoute sent a bending shot just wide of the right post.

Less than 10 minutes later, Keita scored his first goal of the season on a magnificent half-volley from well outside the box.

Keita ran onto a loose ball and let it bounce a few times to set up his shot, which he stuck with his left foot. The ball swerved perfectly into the upper left side of the net, easily beating Real Madrid goalie Iker Casillas.

Sevilla pushed its edge to two goals just two minutes later when Fabiano ran onto a rebound to score into an open net. His seventh goal of the season tied Barcelona's Lionel Messi for the league lead.

Kanoute set up Fabiano's goal with a perfect side flick with the outside of his right foot to spring himself behind Real's defense. He then unleashed a hard blast Casillas got a piece of, but the rebound bounced past him and Fabiano was the first to reach the loose ball for the easy tap-in.

Sevilla's lead easily held up for the rest of the first half as Real Madrid (8-2-1) managed just one shot on goal.

Real Madrid's chances of a comeback were all but erased early in the second half when Sergio Ramos was shown his second yellow card, which resulted in a red card and an ejection.

Fabiano just missed extending Sevilla's lead in the 54th minute, but he wasted a one-on-one chance by shooting well high with Casillas at his mercy.

Real Madrid's best opportunity to get back into the match was in the 59th minute when Raul had a chance in the box. He made a nice spin move against Sevilla's Ivica Dragutinovic, but was shown a yellow card for diving when he went to the ground on a play that easily could have earned a penalty kick instead.

The last 30 minutes were rather uneventful as Sevilla was content to hold on for the victory - although it still had a few scoring chances - and Madrid failed to threaten Sevilla goalie Andres Palop.

In Saturday's other match, Fernando Morientes scored two goals as Valencia defeated Mallorca, 2-0, to move into fourth place - just four points behind Real Madrid.

Valencia hired Ronald Koeman as its new manager on Friday, but he isn't likely to take over the team until Tuesday's Champions League game against Rosenberg.

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Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

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