Karim Benzema gave Jose Mourinho a timely reminder of his abilities as his wonder goal handed Real Madrid a priceless 1-0 away win in the first leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final against Sevilla.
The France international's future with the club has long been under question, with Mourinho's decision to bring in Manchester City striker Emmanuel Adebayor on loan until the end of the season doing little to quell that. But Benzema gave the best possible response to the ex-Togo international's arrival by grabbing the only goal of the game to put the capital club in control of the tie.
Sevilla started the better of the two sides, with Julien Escude heading over from a corner, while Sergio Ramos was forced to make a desperate clearance out of his own box. But, Real soaked up the pressure and went in front after 17 minutes.
Benzema, the match-winner against Real Mallorca at the weekend, collected possession outside the Sevilla box, charged into it, dragged the ball back inside Escude and then confidently slotted under the body of Andres Palop. It was a moment of brilliance from the ex-Lyon man, but it was all his side had to shout about for the remainder of the half.
The home contingent claimed Alvaro Arbeloa should have been sent off following a coming-together with Jesus Navas, while Luis Fabiano planted a free header wide. The Brazil striker then thought he had scored on the stroke of half-time, but his 'goal' was ruled out, much to the anger of most inside the stadium.
After breaking through, he rounded Iker Casillas and prodded the ball goalwards, only for Raul Albiol to chase back and retrieve the ball, with replays suggesting all but a fraction of it had crossed the line before Albiol hacked it away. Lassana Diarra drilled wide of both posts as Real pushed for a second after the restart, while Xabi Alonso nearly netted from 45 yards when he spotted Palop off his line.
Real were creating the better chances now and Palop palmed Ricardo Carvalho's looping header over the bar, before Ronaldo and Mesut Ozil got in a tangle as they both found themselves clear on goal. In the end, Ronaldo left it to the German and his effort was scuffed wide.
The pair were fortunate not to be punished, as with two minutes left, former Real striker Alvaro Negredo fired wide across an open goal. There was some drama after the final whistle too, with Casillas flattened in his area after being struck by something thrown from the crowd.