European football: Mbappé on target as Real Madrid climb up to second in La Liga

Real Madrid forward Kylian Mbappé netted the opener and set up another goal as the hosts beat mid-table Sevilla 4-2 on Sunday to move up to second place in La Liga and close the gap on Atlético Madrid to one point going into the winter break.

Mbappé scored with a thunderbolt from outside the box in the 10th minute before Federico Valverde put reigning champions Real two goals ahead from long-range 10 minutes later. Rodrygo fired home the third in the 34th from a cross by Lucas Vazquez.

Sevilla pulled one back a minute later when Isaac Romero headed home but Brahim Diaz restored the home side’s three-goal cushion in the 53rd minute when he finished off a clever move after Mbappe and Vazquez combined to set him up.

Sevilla got a late goal when Dodi Lukebakio was put through in the 85th but Real saw the game out to move two points clear of Barcelona, who are third on 38 points having played a game more than the top two after losing 2-1 to Atletico on Saturday.

In Serie A, Paulo Dybala scored twice and set up another goal to get Roma back on track in Serie A with a comfortable 5-0 win over Parma on Sunday.

The Argentine playmaker scored an early penalty and pounced on a rebound from Alexis Saelemaekers’ initial shot early in the second half to steer Roma to just their fifth league win of the season.

Roma looked to have finally clicked under Claudio Ranieri when they managed back-to-back wins over Lecce and Sporting Braga in the league and Europa League but they lost last weekend at promoted Como 2-0.

More details to follow after later matches …