After a solid 1-0 victory over West Ham on Thursday evening, Sevilla travelled to Madrid on Sunday looking to cut the gap to league leaders Real Madrid to five points.
It was Vallecas rather than the Bernabeu they were visiting and the game itself was far more blue-collar than bourgeois. Little separated the two in the first half on the pitch and it was level on the scoreboard too.
Each side had one ‘nearly’ moment if not a goal. A corner broke to Rafa Mir in the box, which he controlled and then swiped into the bottom corner. Of course, on second inspection VAR decided that the control was only possible with the use of his arm.
For their part, Rayo Vallecano had one major chance: Santiago Comesana headed towards goal only to be thwarted by Yassine Bounou.
The second half burst into life, with just a minute played. Coming down the right-hand side, Bebe twisted in, out and out again before hammering an effort towards the near post. Bounou could only palm it into the net.
Julen Lopetegui strutted the touchline with feathers ruffled and attempted to shake up the game in a similar manner, made a triple change shortly after. That paid off when Jesus Corona shaped a ball into the far post for a sliding Thomas Delaney – giving Sevilla half an hour to find a winner.
As a team that rely on the margins, it was no surprise that it took until the closing stages for them to come close again. Firstly, via an Antony Martial strike and then Delaney header towards the bottom of the corner. Only Stole Dimitrievski was equal to both, with two flying saves.
Rayo snap their run of six straight defeats in the league and come away with a decent point. As Madrid recedes into the distance on their way back to Seville, Lopetegui will be wondering if Real Madrid might do the same on the league table after their trip to Mallorca tomorrow.
