Rayo and Sevilla drew a duel in Vallecas in which the Andalusian team took the lead through Suso in the first half and neutralized the French center-back Florian Lejeune in the second, who salvaged a point to keep the Madrid team in the race for places Europeans.
With the illusion of seeing themselves in sixth place in the standings, Rayo’s fans once again flocked to the stadium and his team, with almost no time to let them hear the initial whistle, warned Sevilla in the first minute with a cross shot from Sergio Camello that Bono cleared with his right hand.
That action gave way to a few bars of dominance by Rayo, especially through the speed on the wings shown by Isi Palazón and Álvaro García, until Sevilla, who had to improvise their defense due to the numerous casualties due to suspension and injuries , he began to stabilize his game in midfield with Pape Gueye and Oliver Torres.
At minute 29, in a play with some fortune, Sevilla took the lead. It was with a goal from Suso, who picked up the ball on the front line on the right side of his attack and his shot touched Oscar Valentín, who accidentally deflected the trajectory beating Stole Dimitrievski.
The goal improved the spirits of the Andalusian team, which became the owner of the game and was able to widen their difference after a long free kick that Suso hung from the right-handed profile and the Argentine Gonzalo Montiel entered the far post to head a ball that went over the crossbar.
The break was good for Rayo, especially to refresh ideas, and shortly after the restart they were able to equalize after a measured cross from Iván Balliu from the right that Sergio Camello, alone in the small area, finished off high.
This improvement for the Madrid team was rewarded after 65 minutes, when Isi Palazón took a corner from the left and Florian Lejeune, after getting away from his marker, finished off with a header on goal.
The entry of Raúl De Tomás onto the pitch provided Rayo with greater offensive arguments, which began to multiply their approaches to the Sevilla goal, which halfway through the second half had many problems connecting attacking plays, a situation that Sampaoli tried to rectify by putting Moroccan Youssef En-Nesyri was at stake, who was very unassisted in those final minutes and his main contribution was a cross shot on goal after a solo run offside.
Rayo tried until the end and in the last minute of added time they had a double chance through Álvaro García, with a low shot that Bono cleared for a corner, and another shot from Unai López that was caught by the Moroccan goalkeeper.
Consult all the results of the Santander League.
Valley Lightning: Dimitrievski; Balliu, Catena, Lejeune, Fran Garcia; Valentine, Comess (Pathé Ciss, m.88); Isi (Falcao, m.88), Trejo (Raul de Tomas, m.66), Alvaro; and Camel (Unai Lopez, m.78).
Seville: Bond; Montiel, Nianzou, Ferdinand, Telles, Coin; Gueye, Oliver Towers, Ocampos (En-Nesyri, m.76), Suso (Lamela, m.81); and Rafa Mir (Jesus Navas, m.46).
Goals: 0-1: M.29 Suso; 1-1: M.65 Lejeune.
Referee: Jesus Gil Manzano (Extreme Committee). Admonished Fran Garcia (m.18), Lejeune (49), Isi (69) and Catena (93), of the Lightning; and En-Nesyri (84), from Seville.
Incidents: match corresponding to day 22 of LaLiga Santander played at the Vallecas Stadium in front of 13,294 spectators.
