A 10-minute delay due to a pre-match VAR malfunction only served to allow the tension-tinged noise around the ground to gather heat. What unfolded, however, was a tense affair, and the best chance of the first half actually fell to Espanyol midfielder Edu Exposito in the 25th minute, as he found enough space inside the box to fire at Odysseas Vlachodimos, who produced a diving save away to his left.
As it did in Monday’s win over Sociedad, Alexis Sanchez’s introduction from the bench at half-time looked like a potential trump card for the home side. His deployment seemed to have paid dividends just moments after the restart.
A sequence of passes and blocked shots around the Espanyol area culminated in Jose Angel Carmona’s shot ending up as a pass to Ruben Vargas, who in turn tried to shoot himself, but saw his effort deflected for Sanchez to tap in unmarked. However, the Chilean veteran was offside, immediately silencing the Sevilla faithful.
For a team in Sevilla’s position, there’s often only one outcome from that, and an agonising sucker punch arrived on 56’.
Tyrhys Dolan had grown into proceedings in the early second-half minutes, and he played a vital role in crafting his own opener, with a ball to the right flank being cut back into the area by Roberto Fernandez just before it dribbled out for a goal kick.
Andres Castrin badly misjudged the trajectory of the returning ball, allowing Dolan to take it down and fire low into the bottom-left corner.
The inevitable ‘Hail Mary’ from the Sevilla bench saw a trio of substitutions soon after Espanyol’s opener. Castrin was unable to atone for it at the first attempt, as he headed over at the end of a deep delivery into the box from Sanchez.
However, he eventually did just that in the 82nd minute, marauding down the right from virtually nowhere and jinking into the box, before slotting low underneath Dmitrovic, who should have saved the effort with ease.
That was the spark Sevilla needed to pile the pressure on, and they completed the turnaround as seven minutes of added time dawned, with Akor Adams capitalising on a tiring Espanyol defence and unleashing a ferocious curling shot from distance into the bottom-right corner.
There was no response from Espanyol, and Sevilla will now go into a daunting trio of closing games sitting 12th with a three-point cushion from the drop zone. As for Espanyol, their collapse means that they could begin next weekend fourth-bottom and just two points clear of danger in what remains a relentless LaLiga relegation dogfight.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Odysseas Vlachodimos (Sevilla)
