Sevilla 2 - 1 Valencia: Sevilla edge out Valencia to go second

Posted Sunday, November 27, 2016 by PA

Sevilla moved up to second place in LaLiga with a 2-1 win over Valencia at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan on Saturday evening.

A sterile first half gave way to a much more open second as an Ezequiel Garay own goal put Sevilla ahead in the 53rd minute, but Valencia substitute Munir El Haddadi drew the visitors level 12 minutes later.

Sevilla, who lacked their usual fluency without the playmaking talents of Samir Nasri, had enough about them to grab a winner when Nico Pareja restored their lead in the 75th minute and Jorge Sampaoli's men just about hung on to move six points behind league leaders Real Madrid.

Pablo Sarabia pulled the first effort of the match wide after a stunning first touch on the stretch created the opening, but it was a very quiet first 15 minutes in Andalusia.

Sampaoli was apoplectic after 20 minutes when Franco Vazquez curled a left-foot shot wide from the edge of the box instead of finding Sergio Escudero in space.

A careless pass across his own area by Sevilla centre-back Adil Rami gift-wrapped a chance for Dani Parejo, but his poor first touch gave the covering defender the chance to deflect his shot over the bar after half an hour.

The hope had to be for a livelier second period and Sevilla forged ahead eight minutes in.

Hiroshi Kiyotake's pass released Vitolo down the right. He checked inside on to his left foot and his dangerous low ball across the area was deflected into the net by the thigh of Garay.

Rodrigo's shot only found the side-netting after he was played clear of the Sevilla defence after an hour's play, with goalkeeper Sergio Rico in no man's land.

But Los Che were able to find a leveller as Munir made an instant impact after coming off the bench.

Joao Cancelo's pass split the Sevilla defensive line and picked out Munir's well-timed run, and he poked the ball past Rico with the aid of the goalkeeper's right-hand post.

Nani's half-volley was deflected wide for a corner as Valencia gained belief from Munir's goal, but with 15 minutes to go the hosts regained their lead.

A corner from the left was only headed clear to the edge of the area by Eliaquim Mangala and Pareja took a touch before scuffing a shot past the static Diego Alves.

Rico was able to block a drilled shot from Parejo as Valencia went in search of a second equaliser and Vazquez fired over for Sevilla as the game opened up and became an end-to-end contest.

The Sevilla goalkeeper then secured the three points with a wonderful reflex stop to deny Jose Gaya in injury time.