Sevilla took a victory against Rayo that is worth its weight in gold. Limited in their football and with many problems in finishing, the Andalusian team, however, reaches a magnificent 18 points. A tremendous haul for his scarce game. It was helped, of course, by a very discreet Rayo in the first half and, however, much better in the second half at a disadvantage, since Unai López saw red for attacking Isaac on the edge of half-time. Isaac was precisely the player who unbalanced the match. He did not score, but he assisted Sow in the goal and was the target of the attack that left Rayo with 10 players. The Rayistas, with all their forwards on the bench, had good chances in the second half to tie. Álvaro saved against Nteka and Álvaro, from Rayo, shot the post. In the end, Sevilla sighed, with more points than game. His fans, however, fired the team somewhat angry at the difficulties they suffered against a Rayo team with one less.
1
Álvaro Fernández, Adrià Pedrosa (Valentín Barco, min. 80), Loïc Badé, José Ángel Carmona, Kike Salas, Dodi Lukébakio (Suso, min. 72), Albert Sambi Lokonga, Peque Fernández (Jesús Navas, min. 72), Nemanja Gudelj, Djibril Sow (Juanlu Sánchez, min. 79) and Isaac Romero
0
Augusto Batalla, Abdul Mumin, Florian Lejeune (Isi Palazón, min. 85), Pep Chavarría, Andrei Ratiu, Gerard Gumbau (Sergio Camello, min. 70), Óscar Valentín (Pathé Ciss, min. 45), Unai López, Álvaro García , Randy Nteka (Pedro Díaz, min. 70) and Jorge de Frutos (Adri Embarba, min. 85)
Goals
1-0 min. 27: Djibril Sow
Referee Mateo Busquets Ferrer
yellow cards
De Frutos (min. 8), Lejeune (min. 19), Óscar Valentín (min. 30), Álvaro García (min. 36), Loic Bade (min. 39), Kike Salas (min. 45), Augusto Batalla (min. min. 91)
red cards
Unai López (min. 45)
Sevilla was much smarter than Rayo. Íñigo Pérez’s bet was not very well understood. A team with a very crowded midfield, with Nteka as a forward, almost never knowing what to do with the ball that Sevilla gave them from the first minute. Rayo, which is characterized by its strong pressing rhythm, found itself in a position of dominance of the ball at a desperate pace. Sevilla, without doing much, because they produced little, had much more danger.
The locals showed themselves in a good shot by Lukébakio that was cleared by Batalla and in a great play by Isaac that almost culminated in a goal. The difference was in the youth squad. Sevilla had one striker and Rayo, none. And so, Isaac himself created a goal from a throw-in. Good control in the area, a turn and a great pass to Sow for the Swiss to score his first goal of the season.
Rayo tried to wake up and had a good chance after Álvaro’s only break in the entire first half. Nteka ruled with everything in his favor. Camello, James and Raúl de Tomás must have sighed on the bench. Also Isi Palazón. In the umpteenth shot at the foot of the Madrid team, Unai hit Isaac’s back. Busquets Ferrer was notified of the VAR and the media saw the direct red card.
Curiously, Rayo improved a lot in the second half and at a disadvantage. It happened that Sevilla did not know what to do with the ball despite having one more player. He was unable to catch Rayo’s counterattack to decide the match, although, yes, Batalla made a great save on Lukébakio and Isaac failed on a very clear occasion against the Argentine goalkeeper. His Vaseline narrowly missed. Then, he had to suffer from the harassment of Rayo and the trembling in the stands. With Navas and Suso to the rescue, Sevilla won. It’s not clear how, but he won.
