Espanyol scratches a draw against Sevilla with ten
A goal of Rafa Mir for him Seville in the first half and another by Sergi Darder in the second half for the Spanish left on boards (1-1) this Sunday's match at the RCDE Stadium, a result that satisfies none of the two sets.
Sevilla loses a little the wake of the leader, the Real Madridand after this tie drops to six points in second place in the standings, while Espanyol continues to resist victory in 2022, in which they have added three defeats and three draws that leave them in no man's land.
The meeting started with little rhythm, with both teams showing respect to each other. A reflection of this was the innocence of the first shot. It came in minute 4, when Tonny Vilhena managed to gain a foothold at the edge of the area. But he slipped just before hitting the ball and it ended up safely in the hands of Yassine Bounou 'Bono'. Sevilla's first arrival, which came in the 15th minute, was not more promising. Rafa Mir caught a deep ball, but his corner attempt did not take enough force to disturb Diego López.
Vicente Moreno asked for a great atmosphere in the RCDE Stadium, similar to the one that was experienced last Sunday in the Barcelona derby against Barça (2-2)and the fans responded to the coach's call with a good entrance. 24,897 spectators They met in the blue and white fiefdom to receive Sevilla.
The only change in the local eleven compared to the draw against Barça was the entry of Óscar Gil, who would end up assisting the goal, by Aleix Vidal on the right side. Julen Lopetegui, for his part, had to recompose the team after losing due to injury of Karim Rekik and Marcos Acuña who left Thursday's Europa League match against Dinamo Zagreb (3-1). Thus, Fernando delayed his position to appear as central and Ludwig Augustinsson was in charge of occupying the left side.
Midfielders José Manuel Corona 'Tecatito' and former blue and white Joan Jordán, who did not play in the Europa League due to suspension, and striker Rafa Mir also returned to the Sevillian team.
In addition, in minute 22 Anthony Martial left the field due to muscular discomfort in his left leg, which meant that he temporarily left Sevilla with 10 players. Espanyol took advantage of this to have the best opportunity until then. Raúl de Tomás shot from the edge of the box, Bono rejected and Vilhena, alone against the goalkeeper, sent the ball high.
Instead, Rafa Mir did not fail in the 37th minute when 'Papu' Gómez, Martial's substitute, put a cross at the far post after an individual play down the left wing. Neither the blue and white defense nor Diego López managed to prevent the connection between the two Sevilla players and the 0-1 went up to the scoreboard.
But the score was leveled again at the start of the second half. A center from the right wing by Óscar Gil in the 50th minute was finished off with an uncontested header by Sergi Darder, who had also scored against Barça.
In 1962, Yangel Herrera was about to turn the game around. A personal play by Raúl de Tomás down the left wing ended with a precise cross inside the area that the Venezuelan, who had been on the run, was unable to direct between the three posts.
Just a minute later came the reply from Sevilla. A newcomer to the field, Óliver Torres, entered the baseline and the pass from him behind was caught by 'Papu' Gómez with Diego López already defeated, but the Argentine player, forced, sent the ball over the crossbar.
Since then, Lopetegui's team managed to lock up Espanyol in his area in many moments, but the expulsion for Direct red card for Koundé following a struggle with Javi Puado complicated his aspirations for victory. In fact, Raúl de Tomás was able to give the three points to the locals in the 80th minute, but his shot was saved by Diego Carlos in extremis.
The scoreboard no longer moved and, with the final 1-1, Sevilla left the streak of consecutive wins at the RCDE Stadium at three. Real Madrid is already six points ahead.
Data sheet
1 - RCD Espanyol: Diego Lopez; Óscar Gil (Loren, min. 88), Sergi Gómez, Cabrera, Pedrosa; Bare, Herrera (Melendo, min. 82), Darder; Vilhena (Aleix Vidal, min. 72), Puado (Embarba, min. 88) and Raúl de Tomás.
1- Seville: Bonus; Koundé, Diego Carlos, Fernando, Augustinsson (Óliver Torres, min. 56); Delaney, Jordán (Rakitic, min. 56), Ocampos, Tecatito (Jesús Navas, min. 71); Martial ('Papu' Gómez, min. 26) and Rafa Mir (En-Nesyri, min. 71).
goals: 0-1, m.37: Rafa Mir. 1-1, m.50: Sergi Darder.
Referee: Pablo González Fuertes (Asturian Committee). He booked Raúl de Tomás (min. 29), Javi Puado (min. 77), Keidi Baré (min. 81) and Aleix Vidal (min. 90), for Espanyol; and Ludwig Augustinsson (min. 44), Jesús Manuel Corona 'Tecatito' (min. 47), Jules Koundé (min. 69), who ended up sent off with a direct red card (min. 77), and Lucas Ocampos (min. 85), from Seville.
Incidents: Match corresponding to matchday 25 of LaLiga Santander played at the RCDE Stadium before 24,897 spectators. Before the start of the match, Diego López received a commemorative shirt for his 200 games as Espanyol goalkeeper.
