0-3: A PAINFUL NIGHT AGAINST GETAFE

Much had been made in the build-up to the game of a recent improvement in performances but, despite the feeling that a turning point could be around the corner on a night where we remembered former club president Rafael Carrión with a pre-match minute’s silence, what followed wasn’t what anyone had hoped for. 

José Bordalás’ side put in a textbook away performance, compact in defence and direct on the counter. We were left fighting an uphill battle from the off when Borja Mayoral converted a fifth minute penalty after a shot from Jaime Mata, a constant menace on the left wing, was adjudged to have struck Juanlu’s arm from what appeared to be just millimetres away.

As Getafe sat in and looked to deliver sucker-punches on the counter, the game took up a pattern we have fallen foul of before in recent games. While dominating both in terms of territory and possession for much of the game, we were ultimately unable to mount a serious comeback.

Although our application in the second period matched that of the first and many of our recent games, loose balls seemed physically incapable of falling our way and luck was hard to come by. This meant sorrows were only compounded when Mason Greenwood put away the visitors’ second penalty of the night. When the referee blew the full-time whistle, we had little to show for our efforts with the score remaining 3-0 to the away team.  This leaves us turning our attention to another chance to turn the tide when we travel to Granada next week. 

The evening got off to the worst possible start when, with only five minutes gone, Mayoral stepped up to blast a penalty down the middle. Despite this nightmare opening, we proceeded to steady the ship. We earned a pair of dangerous free-kick situations out wide and had a penalty claim of our own turned down for handball in the 25th minute.

With our fans in fantastic voice as ever, we managed to assert ourselves somewhat on the first 20 minutes of the game.  

However, in spite of being the team to put in all the running, Getafe were evidently keen to protect their lead and rely on their threat on the break. Indeed, having responded well to the early penalty, we were served a reminder of the visitors’ counter-attacking threat when Juanmi Latasa raced clean through in the 35th minute, only to guide his effort wide of the far post. With the next Getafe chance, we weren’t as fortunate; Greenwood found the lively Mata in acres of space and he finished clinically from close range. 

We emerged for the second half looking to get back into the game with Januzaj almost able to halve the deficit when he got on the end of an Ocampos cross from the left. In reality though, it was the visitors who tightened their grip on the match. Latasa spurned a golden opportunity in the 67th minute by somehow firing over. This was shortly followed by En-Nesyri testing David Soria from 15 yards after being found by Juanlu. 

However, when Juanlu was punished for handling the ball in the box for the second time of the evening, Greenwood stepped up to send Dmitrovic the wrong way and the game was effectively killed off, even if there was time for Soria to deny substitute Januzaj superbly at the death. 

It is now a question of recovering as fast as possible for the trip to Granada on Tuesday and looking to bounce back from a disappointing result in the knowledge that it only takes one win and one performance to turn a bad run of form around. 

MATCH DETAILS

0. SEVILLA FC: Dmitrovic, Juanlu, Gudelj, Sergio Ramos, Kike Salas (Januzaj, minute 46), Pedrosa, Soumaré, Sow (Rafa Mir, minute 71), Rakitic, Ocampos (Suso, minute 64) and En-Nesyri

3. GETAFE CF: Soria, Iglesias, Djené, Álvarez, Rico, Maksimovic, Milla (Óscar, minute 90), Greenwood (Carmona, minute 90), Mata, Latasa (Alderete, minute 90) and Mayoral

GOALS: 0-1 Mayoral (penalty), minute 3. 0-2 Mayoral, minute 36. 0-3 Greenwood (penalty), minute 79.

REFEREE: Pulido Santana. Yellow cards for Dmitrovic, Milla, Gastón, Gudelj, Mata and Rakitic.