An injury-hit Real Madrid side have taken a comprehensive 2-0 lead into half time of this evening's La Liga meeting against Sevilla at the Bernabeu.
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The home side were dealt an early blow when Sergio Ramos was forced off, although just a few short minutes later they found themselves ahead when James Rodriguez capitalised on some poor defending from the opposition to head home Marcelo's cross.
Vicente Iborra looked certain to level things up with 18 minutes on the clock, collecting the ball off Vitolo and rounding Iker Casillas, but he could only find the post with his resulting shot.
Sevilla continued to up the ante in search of an equaliser, and they came close to finding one once more when Vitolo this time took range himself, only to see his effort end up straight down the throat of Casillas.
Matters turned even worse for Madrid on the injury front shortly before the half-hour mark when James became the latest to hobble off through injury, but there was to be a worrying concern for the visitors, too, who saw Sergio Rico withdrawn on a stretcher following a nasty collision with Karim Benzema.
It was the Frenchman who created his side's second of the night eight minutes before the interval, rolling a low cross into the area for Jese to smash home.
Benzema and Sami Khedira could have wrapped things up before the break, yet neither capitalised on their respective chances to see Sevilla head into the break with just a glimmer of hope.
Daniel Lewis
