Sevilla trounce Levante 5-0 in La Liga

Seville, Jan 27 (IANS) Sevilla FC claimed a 5-0 rout of visiting Levante in a La Liga matchday 21 event held at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan stadium here.

Sevilla on Saturday had to wait until after the break to find the visitors' net, earning its first win in the top Spanish league in the last five matches. Sevilla's previous win in La Liga dates back to December 16, against Girona (2-0), reports Efe news.

"I do not know if, being objective and realistic, we can say that Sevilla had a downturn," Sevilla's head coach Pablo Machin said after the game. "Because the team was competitive in 99 per cent of the matches."

With the win, Sevilla provisionally regained the third spot in the standings with 36 points, on goal differential ahead of Real Madrid, which will be hosted by Espanyol on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Levante remained in the 10th place in the table with 26 points, pending the remaining matchday contests.

Saturday's duel was evenly matched during the first half, as Levante was showing drive, and its coach Paco Lopez relying on an offensive lineup that included the Ghanaian forward Emmanuel Boateng.

However, Sevilla managed to open the scoring early into the second half and then to dominate the play in its rival's field.

Although significant players of both teams were sidelined due to injury, with Sevilla's most recent recruit Maximilian Wober starting the match, they started the game with a similar tactic of three defenders and two forwards, which has secured them high scoring records so far this season.

It was the French-Tunisian striker Wissam Ben Yedder who netted the opening goal for Sevilla, just three minutes after the break, sending a close-range right-footed finish through keeper Oier Olazabal's legs into the back of the net, seizing on a pass from Roque Mesa.