Sevilla were on the verge of their third successive La Liga victory this Saturday night but would see three points snatched away at the death. Having done all the hard work to cancel out Bartra's early opener with just under fifteen minutes to go (Ben Yedder and Kjaer scoring for the visitors), Loren would find an equaliser and force the to Seville sides to share the points. Getafe's loss to Atlético Madrid means that a point is enough to guarantee European football for Sevilla - with a seven place finish now confirmed.
Sevilla could not have wished for a worse start. Playing in one of the most hostile settings they’ll face, the Nervionenses were unable to challenge Betis’ early dominance in possession. Taking control of proceedings in the very early going, the green and whites were awarded a dangerous freekick on Sevilla’s right-hand side just before five minutes had passed. A perfect ball from Joaquín would find the head of Bartra, who nodding to Soria’s back post would give Betis an opener. Stunned by the early setback, Sevilla would continue to struggle to break into the game. Enduring more pressure before the fifteen-minute mark, it would only be following a speculative strike from Éver Banega that the Sevillistas would find their feet. Nolito would follow up with Sevilla’s best chance of the early going – latching on to a ball over the top but failing to get the height needed for a lobbed header.
Struggling to contain Betis' dominance in the early going, Sevilla would eventually grow into the game
With affairs now more even, the bite you would expect of a Seville derby started to rear its head. Bookings for Guardado, Sarabia and Lenglet put the Benito Villamarín even more on edge. The visitors, nevertheless, grew more comfortable. Banega would be the next to fire a warning shot, dragging just wide on 25 minutes. With Betis chances drying up dramatically, Sevilla started to press – nicking the ball high up the pitch but lacking a final pass to give themselves true chances. Despite the unrelenting wall of Betis noise, Sevilla would have the ball in the back of the net just under ten minutes before the break but Pablo Sarabia would not see his finish count, being found offside by the linesman. Minutes before the referee called the action to a halt for half-time, Sevilla would be forced into a change, with Mercado coming off through injury for Wissam Ben Yedder. One goal back going into the second-half.