Sevilla 3-2 Real Sociedad
Sevilla came back from a goal behind to beat Real Sociedad at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium tonight in front of a passionate 37,000 crowd.
It was just what Los Hispalenses needed after a poor spell, and all the more impressive against an in-form Sociedad.
The win takes Sevilla back up to sixth place in La Liga, level on points with Sociedad and just two behind league leaders Real Madrid. After back to back losses head coach Julen Lopetegui needed to regroup his players and they responded superbly cancelling out Mikel Oyarzabal’s opener and then blowing their visitors away.
The weekend’s La Liga 2019 results opened the door for Imanol Alguacil’s Sociedad to take the top spot, but they were never really in the game, and a late consolation was a little flattering after they had suffered a torrid evening.
Highlights of the game
Lopetegui will have been disappointed by the way his side surrendered to a second-half Karim Benzema goal against Real Madrid in its last home fixture. And he couldn’t have expected a worse start to this game when his side went behind with just four minutes on the clock.
Former Manchester United star Adnan Januzaj put Mikel Oyarzabal in with a beautifully weighted through ball, and the forward slotted his fourth goal of the season in the bottom-right corner.
But the hosts responded in perfect fashion, drawing level on 18 minutes when Ever Banega passed to Nolito in the centre of the penalty area, and the wide man slotted coolly home.
Banega is an influential figure in Sevilla’s midfield and he created another chance for Lucas Ocampos, who forced a save from Miguel Moya. The Sociedad stopper was on hand again to save from Oliver Torres as his shot arrowed towards the bottom corner.
Sevilla finished the first half very strongly, with Jules Kounde, Ocampos and Luuk de Jong all having decent chances but firing high and wide. Meanwhile, Banega came the closest with a shot in first-half injury time.
The hosts began the second half as they ended the first, and they got their reward. When skipper Jesus Navas found Ocampos in space on the right side of the penalty area, he found the net with a great shot into the corner to send the home fans wild. It was no more than Seville deserved.
Torres forced another good save from Moya and Banega came close again with a shot from distance as the hosts continued to dominate.
Joan Jordan came off the bench and he came close to adding a third, first striking the post with a shot from distance and then taking a pass from De Jong before unleashing a shot which Moya did well to keep out.
Willian Jose tried to draw Sociedad level but shot wide And on 80 minutes, Sevilla stretched their lead when Franco Vazquez fired in the third.
The visitors bagged a late consolation when Portu sent his shot into the bottom-left corner after good work from Martin Odegard, but while the crowd became a little anxious, Sevilla saw the game out for a welcome three points.
Key statistics
Sevilla really piled on the pressure at the end of the first half and registered 10 shots on goal, while Sociedad had just the one shot which fired them ahead. The final shot count reached 21 to five as Sevilla justified their position as 2.02 favourites prior to the game.
The two teams are now locked on 13 points from seven games with an identical goal difference.
The win puts Sevilla in front in the head to heads by 17 to 14 and ended a four-match unbeaten run for the visitors.
I doubt either of these two teams will feature in the La Liga 2019 betting odds markets as a serious title contender, but both have a real chance to win a European place.
What’s next?
SBOBET football just keeps on coming, and this week Sevilla has a Europa League tie at home to Apoel Nicosia, on Thursday. They will hope to make it two wins out of two after beating Qarabag 3-0 in their opener.
But Lopetegui may need to rotate his squad with a trip to the Camp Nou next Sunday to face champions Barcelona.
Meanwhile, Real Sociedad have two home games to look forward to against Getafe and Real Betis. It’s a good opportunity to pick up six points against the sides currently in 15th and 16th places in La Liga.
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