La Liga: Sevilla 3 Deportivo La Coruna 1

Gary Medel scored twice as Sevilla’s hopes of a European berth rose on the back of a 3-1 La Liga win over Deportivo La Coruna.

Gary Medel scored twice as Sevilla’s hopes of a European berth rose on the back of a 3-1 La Liga win over Deportivo La Coruna.

Croatia midfielder Ivan Raktic headed hosts Sevilla into the lead after just five minutes at Sanchez Pizjuan stadium on Friday.

Medel extended the advantage on 27 minutes when he diverted a cross from Jesus Navas past Daniel Aranzubia Aguado in the Deportivo goal.

But the Galician visitors pegged a goal back just five minutes later through Spanish striker Riki’s eighth goal of the season.

Chilean midfielder Medel popped up again in the 40th minute to restore his side’s two-goal buffer, and the hosts had goalkeeper Beto to thank for making a couple of great saves in the second half to keep the three points safe.

The victory was Unai Emery’s side’s third from five games and takes them to 10th spot on 32 points, five short of a Europa League qualification place.

Deportivo, who reached the Champions League semi-finals in 2004 but have since fallen from grace amid financial troubles, stay rooted to the bottom of the table on 16 points following a fifth consecutive league defeat.

They are six points from safety and face a huge task to salvage their top-flight status after earning promotion to La Liga this season.