Valencia, with a great first half, won a vital duel against Sevilla in the lower part of the table that leaves the Andalusian team very affected. They were effective and orderly, very well directed by a wonderful Guido, to overcome a rival who had one of their worst performances of the season. Matías Almeyda, the local coach, comes out of the duel very touched, who played with a very daring lineup and then made a mistake with the changes. It is not understood how the Argentine coach did not start Oso, his fittest player. Valencia is breathing, a lot, after its defeat in Oviedo. Seven points from relegation, one can even allow themselves to think about Europe given the narrowness of the classification. The only negative thing was the blow to the head that forced him to go to the hospital as a precaution after being replaced by Javi Vázquez.
0
Odysseas Vlachodimos, Kike Salas, Gabriel Suazo, Nemanja Gudelj, César Azpilicueta (Akor Adams, min. 36), Djibril Sow (Andrés Castrín, min. 72), Lucien Agoumé (Batista Mendy, min. 45), Juanlu Sánchez (José Ángel Carmona, min. 45), Rubén Vargas (Oso, min. 70), Neal Maupay y Alexis Sánchez (Isaac Romero, min. 45)
2
Stole Dimitrievski, César Tárrega, José Gayà (Jesús Vázquez, min. 25), Unai Núñez, Eray Cömert, Guido Rodríguez, André Almeida (Diego López, min. 79), Javi Guerra (Pepelu, min. 88), Hugo Duro (Umar Sadiq, min. 66), Largie Ramazani (Lucas Beltrán, min. 65) y Luis Rioja
Goals
0-1 min. 37: Hugo Duro. 0-2 min. 49: Ramadan
Referee Victor García Verdura
yellow cards
Lucien Agoume (27 minutes), Lucas Beltran (73 minutes), Neal Maupay (94 minutes)
Sevilla is three points away from the abyss and the worst thing is the sensations it transmits. His match against Valencia was really very discreet. The Andalusians face the decisive stretch of the season with a very low profile. His sporting decline is compounded by the gestures of his great fans. The majority of the fans left the Sánchez Pizjuán at the end of the match to leave it almost empty. It was the seventh defeat at home in the entire season. As things stand, the outlook for Sevilla looks dark, although there is still a long way to go.
Elche’s victory over Mallorca, as well as Levante’s victory against Oviedo, greatly increased the tension of the duel between Sevilla and Valencia, two greats of Spanish football who are very much in decline. It was Corberán’s team that brought out the most performance in a first half where Sevilla, after half an hour of a certain equality, broke down regrettably. The collapse began with the umpteenth, a loss of the ball by Alexis and Hugo Duro’s goal in the 38th minute. Perhaps Sevilla’s collapse also began with a lineup without its fittest player, Oso, and its best striker, Akor. Seeing the performances of footballers like Alexis, Maupay or Vargas, fresh from his injury, Almeyda’s decisions were not very well understood. Nor did they put Akor in for Azpilicueta to play with four forwards and open the way in attack for a Valencia team that scored the second goal in a phenomenal counterattack.
With the score 0-2 at half-time, the stands took it, logically, with their team, while Valencia, more organized, with much clearer ideas, created a wonderful victory. Although, yes, there was the second half left.
Sevilla tried in the second half. , Isaac and Mendy and their team had the virtue, at least, of getting Valencia into their area. Some shot from Isaac created danger and it was Guido who cut off any hint of a reaction from the home team with great defensive work. The visitors were not sharp in the start on the counterattack, although they defended themselves well. The Sánchez Pizjuán emptied as the minutes passed, the fan helpless in the face of Sevilla’s lack of resources. It is a very delicate moment for the Andalusian team, which could even consider replacing Almeyda on the bench taking advantage of this break. Their next duel at Oviedo’s home is a true final.
Almeyda, the Sevilla coach, took a long time to go to the press room. He revealed that he had suffered a drop in blood pressure, from which he recovered and then attended to journalists. “If the problem is me, there won’t be any problem. My tension went down, not my tone, don’t analyze me for what I say, but for my work, and it wasn’t good. That thing about strength… As long as I can work, I work, when they tell me that I don’t work anymore, then I’ll go back to being a nomad,” added the coach. “We played a very bad game, we have lost intensity in the last two games,” said the Argentine. His position is on the wire.
