Karim Benzema seals Real Madrid rally over Sevilla with late winner

Karim Benzema scored a dramatic late winner to seal a 3-2 win for Real Madrid over Sevilla after the LaLiga leaders had gone two goals down in the first half on the road on Sunday.

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First-half goals from Ivan Rakitic and Erik Lamela set the hosts on their way, but Rodrygo, Nacho and the rampant Benzema scored in the second half to hand Carlo Ancelotti's side an unlikely win.

The result puts presumptive LaLiga champions Real Madrid 15 points ahead of second-placed Barcelona, who have a game Monday and another game in hand, while Los Blancos have six matches left to play.

"It doesn't mean a lot more than three points, that's the reality," Nacho said after the match. "There's still a lot of league at stake, but at this ground, this opponent, how the game was at half-time, it's fundamental for our morale. In the second half we were much, much better.

"They're three very important points, above all with the way we won them. The team showed a lot of character, with a difficult scoreline here. We're very happy, they're three points, but it doesn't mean anything yet."

It was a tale of two halves as Sevilla dominated the first, but disappeared after the break in a match that was marked by several controversial decisions by referee Guillermo Cuadra.

He declined to show Real's Eduardo Camavinga a second yellow card for a foul from behind on Anthony Martial after 37 minutes.

The referee also disallowed Vinicius Junior's equaliser for Real for a marginal handball decision in the 78th minute, sticking by his call after being sent to the pitchside monitor by VAR.

Sevilla got in front early in the first half after two mistakes from Real defender Eder Militao in a four minute span.

First, Rakitic fired a free kick through the Real wall to open the scoring in the 21st after Militao left a gaping hole and four minutes later the Brazilian let Jesus Corona run behind the defence to cross for the unmarked Lamela to make it 2-0.

After Camavinga's close call for fouling Martial, Ancelotti brought off the young French midfielder at the break for Rodrygo, a move that changed the game in Real's favour as the Brazilian gave a superb performance off the bench.

He scored Real's first goal five minutes into the second half, started the move that ended with fellow substitute Nacho netting the second in the 82nd and 10 minutes later crossed for LaLiga top scorer Benzema to fire home the winner.

It was Benzema's 25th goal this season, his best tally in a single league campaign in his Real career -- surpassing the 2015-16 season when scored 24.

Sevilla's hopes of a late charge for the LaLiga title were officially dashed by the Real comeback, with Julen Lopetegui's side in third place behind Barcelona after 32 games.