MADRID, 20 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Sevilla drew this Sunday with RCD Espanyol (1-1) in the twenty-fifth day of LaLiga Santander, a match in which the Nervionenses were unable to defend their advantage and ended up with one less due to the expulsion of Jules Koundé and makes them lose strength in their fight for the league title.
In a duel with an intense start at the RCDE Stadium, Frenchman Anthony Martial’s injury in the 23rd minute forced Julen Lopetegui to change his plans and bring in a ‘Papu’ Gómez who became one of the great protagonists of the first part.
It was the Argentine who, in the 36th minute, served on a plate the goal that opened the scoring for the Nervionenses in a play down the left wing; after getting rid of two rivals, he crossed to the far post so that an attentive Rafa Mir, free of a mark, scored at will.
The parakeet team looked for an equalizer, especially through Raúl de Tomás, and had to wait for the restart to achieve it in a center by Óscar Gil that Sergi Darder finished off with a header to the bottom of the net (min.50).
A frantic exchange of blows then began, with Yangel Herrera and Óliver Torres about to pierce the rival’s goal, but everything was interrupted when in minute 77 Jules Koundé saw a direct red card for hitting Puado with his arm.
The Frenchman will not be in next day’s derby against Real Betis, nor will Lucas Ocampos, who received the fifth yellow card in a final in which Diego Carlos still had to act to clear a powerful shot from ‘RdT’. Also Diego López, in the discount, saved his team by winning a heads-up against En-Nesyri.
In this way, the Andalusian team (51) remains second, six points behind the leader Real Madrid, who on Saturday did not fail against Deportivo Alavés. For their part, Vicente Moreno’s men tie their second consecutive draw, although they still haven’t won in LaLiga since last year.