A goal from the Norwegian Alexander Sorloth in the last minute of added time (m. 97) allowed Villarreal to break Sevilla’s good streak and prolong their dream of achieving a place to compete in Europe next season. Villarreal is 8th, 6 points behind the sixth position occupied by Real Sociedad (who faces Barcelona on Monday).
In a frenetic end to the match, with penalties and goals annulled by the VAR, the Castellón team had more faith and punch to win a duel full of alternatives, suspense and scoring chances.
Marcelino’s team came out determined to improve their few chances of entering Europe. Villarreal, with an aggressive and dynamic game, subdued Sevilla, which they cornered in their field.
Akhomach, after a rehearsed play, had his team’s first chance. Shortly after, Guedes, in a shooting position, chose to give the goal to Sorloht, but the pass to the Portuguese was not successful.
In the midst of a yellow storm, Akhomach placed a precise ball on the head of the Norwegian, who only in the area finished high.
Sevilla, without control of the ball, knew how to suffer to weather the storm and on their first arrival at the area found an unexpected reward in a penalty committed by Kiko Femenía, whose arm was hit by the ball after a jump with Suso.
En-Nesyri did not forgive and put Sevilla ahead, which barely had time to savor the advantage, since five minutes later Sorloth converted a precise service from Cuenca into a goal, now with a header.
The tie unleashed Villarreal, who recovered the initial spark, although Sevilla did not refuse the fight and also began to appear in attack.
Jesús Navas found a vein on his wing and began to feed his forwards with balls. Ocampos, with a bicycle kick, wasted the side’s first service, but En-Nesyri did not forgive, already on the edge of half-time, to send the ball into the net with an unappealable header.
The end of the first half brought another unpleasant surprise for Villarreal, who lost the injured Coquelin in stoppage time.
Villarreal repeated the script of the first period and came out in a rush after the break. In just one minute, Álex Baena had two chances to tie.
In the first, the man from Almería ran into the reflexes of Nyland, who saved a one-on-one, and in the second he volleyed the ball wide after a pass into Parejo’s space.
Villarreal, out of control, almost equalized with a header from Cuenca and a shot from Guedes, after a fantasy pass from Baena, which Nyland saved again.
Marcelino’s team tried in every possible way, with crosses into the area, filtered balls and distant shots, but they did not find a way to break down Sevilla’s wall until Mosquera caught a ball at the near post to score (2-2 ).
With seven minutes still to play, and aware that the point was not worth it, both teams engaged in an exchange of blows in which anything could happen.
En-Nesyri hit the post and, shortly after, the VAR rectified a penalty awarded in favor of Sevilla for a handball by Capoué that turned out to be Agoumé.
Terrats, already in injury time, also saw his goal disallowed by the referee for offside. In the midst of offensive madness, Baena once again rubbed the lamp to assist Sorloth, who did not forgive to knock down Sevilla, keep the European dream alive and claim to be the top scorer of the championship.
Villarreal: Jorgensen; Kiko Femenía, Bailly, Mosquera, Cuenca (Capuoe, min. 82); Akhomach (Traoré, min. 63), Parejo, Coquelin (Terrats, min. 46), Álex Baena; Guedes (Morales, min. 82) and Sorloht.
Seville: Nyland; Jesus Navas, Nianzou, Sergio Ramos, Kike Salas, Acuña (Pedrosa, min. 63); Suso (Jordan, mi. 75), Agoume, Soumare; Ocampos (Lukebakio, 75 mins) and En-Nesyri.
Goals: 0-1 En-Nesyri, from a penalty (25); 1-1 Sorloth (30); 1-2 En-Nesyri (44); 2-2 Mosquera (83); 3-2 Sorloth (97).
Referee: Díaz de Mera (Castilian-Manchego). He showed yellow cards to Nianzou, Ocampos, Agoumé and Quique Sala for Sevilla, and to Cuenca, Reina and Bailly for Villarreal. He sent off Villarreal’s physical trainer with a direct red card in the 88th minute.
Field: La Cerámica, 16,862 spectators.
