Almeria 0 : 1 Sevilla - Sevilla march on

Posted Sunday, May 01, 2011 by PA

Sevilla boosted their chances of Europa League qualification and left Almeria on the brink of relegation following a hard-fought 1-0 win over their Andalusian rivals in the Primera Division.

Renato scored the only goal of a tight game 12 minutes into the second half after Almeria had been reduced to 10 men.

Danish full-back Michael Jakobsen had been sent off just four minutes earlier, but things could have different for the home side because referee Antonio Rubinos Perez failed to spot Fernando Navarro's blatant handball early on.

The Sevilla defender not only denied Almeria a certain goal as he palmed away Pablo Piatti's header, but the Catalan should have been sent off as well.

Almeria had lost their last five Primera Division matches and were desperate for a slice of luck, but it did not go their way and that incident, after 15 minutes, seemed to give Sevilla a lift.

The visitors duly dominated and went close through both Diego Capel and Martin Caceres.

Caceres was later upended by a Jakobsen tackle eight minutes into the second half and the Dane was shown a straight red card.

Despite their numerical disadvantage, Almeria almost took the lead three minutes later, when Kalu Uche fired into the side netting from close range.

But moments later, Renato - all alone at the far post - headed home after Diego Alves had failed to deal with Rodri's cross.

Alvaro Negredo, playing against his former club, missed two good chances late on Javi Varas did well to save from Leonardo Ulloa at the other end.

But Sevilla prevailed and Gregorio Manzano's side move provisionally into fifth place, while Almeria are rooted to the bottom, 12 points behind 17th-placed Deportivo La Coruna with only 12 left to play for.