Barcelona 1-0 Sevilla
Barcelona managed to put their 2-2 draw with Real Mallorca behind them and take back the Liga lead from Girona, ahead of the Blanquivermells’ clash with Real Madrid on Saturday.
The Blaugrana started off well with Alejandro Balde getting in down the left side on several occasions, but he could not find his man in the box. The two best chances of the first half fell to Joao Felix and Fermin Lopez respectively.
The first, Felix thundered off the underside of the bar, after Joao Cancelo had weaved past three defenders and found Felix in the middle of the box unmarked. Raphinha then caused concern as he stopped mid-movement to feel the back of his thigh. Going down again, he limped off with an apparent hamstring issue.
The Brazilian went off for Fermin Lopez, who nearly had the opener after Lamine Yamal found him in the box in similar fashion to that of Cancelo, but Lopez could not beat Orjan Nyland.
Sevilla were not without threat though, and tested Barcelona’s defence on several occasions. Gavi, who put in a player of the match performance, blocked Lucas Ocampos’ effort on the line in a goal-saving challenge.
Barcelona improved after the break, putting more pressure on Sevilla, but failing to create clear opportunities, as they cut off Los Nervionenses’ escape routes. As the game looked increasingly like a draw, Xavi Hernandez put on Ferran Torres for Joao Felix. His looping ball in behind found Lamine Yamal, who headed back across goal and eventually in off Sergio Ramos, seven years after he had been a mascot for the 37-year-old in El Clasico.
Ramos had played well, with Loic Bade and the former Real Madrid man defending stoically alongside Juanlu Sanchez and Adria Pedrosa, but eventually became the headline for the wrong reasons.
Sevilla could not create enough trouble for Marc-Andre ter Stegen, even if Jules Kounde was forced into an excellent interception. Lopez took to exhibiting the full range of his talents in midfield in what turned into a positive night for Barcelona, even if they were a long way from brilliant. They sleep at the top of La Liga, while Sevilla, who plaed determined and reasonably cogent football, will feel unfortunate as they slip to just 7 points in 7 games, currently 12th.
