A goal by Moroccan striker Youssef En-Nesyri, in the extension of the game, undid the tie (2-1) and gave Sevilla an almost definitive victory in their fight to ensure permanence, while Villarreal, in an attempt to win strong in the European positions, lost an opportunity to do so, so it will be the Sevilla fans who continue to party in these days of the April Fair.
Rafa Mir put Sevilla ahead in the first half, Pau Torres equalized early in the second and En-Nesyri defined a game at the end in which the locals were superior at the start and the visitors improved as the game progressed.
Sevilla’s victory, paradoxically, also suits their ‘eternal rival’, Betis, who see how, despite losing in Pamplona, ​​they maintain their fifth place in the standings.
Despite the fact that this campaign the trajectories of both teams are diametrically opposed, for this appointment the Castellón team arrived with the disappointment of having lost in the previous day at home against Valladolid and the Sevillian with the joy of having won in LaLiga in Mestalla against Valencia and three days later to Manchester United and thus achieve the pass to the semifinals of the Europa League.
But Quique Setién’s men, after the defeat of Betis and the victory of Real Sociedad that occurred on Saturday, had the opportunity to snatch the fifth from the Andalusians and not let the Basque team escape in the fourth, with which the mission was that the European struggle is still very much alive.
Another is Sevilla’s fight in the domestic tournament, in which they intend to add three by three to get as far away from the relegation zone as possible, although José Luis Mendilibar has the problem of dosing the wear and tear on his players by linking almost without rest the European meetings with those of LaLiga, which now also has interweekly days.
The locals, with up to nine starting players who did not start against United, came out with the inertia they left on Thursday and from the start they pressed a lot and constantly reached the vicinity of the goal defended by Pepe Reina.
The visiting team weathered the momentum of their rivals as best they could and managed, after fifteen minutes, for the ball to be distributed a little more, which also coincided with the injured José Luis Morales leaving the field and the striker having to replace him Senegalese Nicolas Jackson.
In this fight, Sevilla was more incisive, although, as happened shortly before half an hour in a shot by Suso Fernández to which Pepe Reina responded well, Mendilibar’s formation did not hit the opponent’s goal, but the insistence had its reward and the winger from Cádiz, now as a passer, gave Rafa Mir a good ball so that he would shoot him at the end of the goal.
Villarreal reacted at the moment and pushed with everything, which they had not done before, before the goal of Serbian Marko Dmitrovic and thus the Argentine Giovani Lo Celso was the leader of his team and was close to drawing on two occasions, as was Jackson. , to whom even the VAR annulled a goal for offside, although Suso also found that a stick repelled the ball in what could have been 2-0 before the break.
In the second half, the team from Castellón wanted to resume it as it had ended in the first and kept up their pressure on the local area, and thus the Nigerian striker Samu Chukwueze had a chance to equalize and shortly after the center-back Pau Torres did, not without suspense. because it is also reviewed in the VAR due to the possibility of offside.
Thus began a match of just over half an hour with the 1-1 draw and with two teams looking for their second goal, although now Sevilla was not as dominant as at the start of the clash and Villarreal did not want the work to have no reward either. what did
What did seem was that the game would not end in a tie because both formations did not settle and when they could they tried, like the French Étiene Capoue and Dani Parejo for the yellows or the Argentine Erik Lamela and Jesús Navas for the whites, although the one who did not fail was En-Nesyri with a header from a corner that brought the party to Sánchez-Pizjuán.