4-2: SEVILLA FC WIN IN DRAMATIC FASHION AGAINST GRANADA CF

Essential. Vital. Exhilarating. Deserved. Spectacular. Some words to describe our win on this Friday night against Granada CF. Lopetegui's men had to comeback from Machís' opening goal, watch on as Granada equalised in the last minutes following VAR ruling out a Rafa Mir goal, and finally come away with the three points after Rafa Mir and Papu scored dramatic goals in injury time. Three essential points in our hunt for the Champions League spots ahead of welcoming Real Madrid to Seville on Easter Sunday.

The first half saw moments of dominance for both teams, with Sevilla starting strong but having to react even stronger when Granada scored the opener in the 22nd minute. Machís broke the deadlock with a strong right-footed shot outside the box, which even a full-stretch Bono could not save. Sevilla looked to attack through Tecatito and Ocampos on the wing, while Granada preferred to attack through the centre. Torrente had to come off in the 12th minute after appearing to suffer a serious injury to his right knee; however, he managed to return to the field before eventually having to be replaced.

Diego Carlos headed in a perfect cross from Navas to level the encounter

After the goal from the Venezuelan, Sevilla FC threw everything into the game in their attempt to level up the score. They began to trap Granada in their own defensive third as the red and whites continued attacking the area. Martial, Ocampos and Tecatito all had attempts but they didn’t lead to anything. In one of these the reward would come a little after Koundé blocked a shot from inside the area by Machís. A brilliant corner from Jesús Navas, found Diego Carlos at the back post after he found himself forward from a corner. The Brazilian headed home to level up the scores at the Sánchez-Pizjuán. Sevilla didn’t stop attacking and they could have gone ahead with a shot from Augustinsson but Maximiano was positioned well to stop it. 

Lopetegui started the second half with his first change, bringing on Lamela for En-Nesyri. Sevilla completed dominated Granada CF, aware of the importance of not dropping two points with a draw. Sevilla came and came, most of all down the right flank of Jesús Navas, who didn’t stop whipping in crosses into the box. However, it was Granada who broke through first in the second half in the 60th minute. Machís shot and forced Bono into an important intervention to stop the South American scoring a second. 

VAR ruled out a Rafa Mir goal which would have made it 3-1 ten minutes from time

But the effort was rewarded with a well-deserved prize. Now at the halfway point of the second half, Rakitic picked up the ball and threaded through a great pass to Tecatito on the left-wing, who escaped his marker, Víctor Díaz, and would take the ball down to find Ocampos for Sevilla's second goal. The Argentine, before Maximiano came out, finessed his way past the keeper and scored the second into an empty net. It took a long time for the final verification, but VAR awarded the goal to the Sevilla winger and thus completing the comeback. Soon later the team could have started to relax, but on this occasion VAR came back to deny Rafa Mir a goal after his tackle was considered a foul in the buildup.                                                                                                                      

Incomprehensibly, Granada CF took control of the game in the last ten minutes and pinned Lopetegui's side back in their own half, first seeing Uzumi hit the post and then Bono's smart save down low to deny Arezo. From there, Granada took advantage of the corner they won and silenced the Sánchez-Pizjuán. Víctor Díaz sent in the corner and it was subsequently headed home by Milla, bringing the scores level. A point wasn't good enough, but with nine minutes of added time, Sevilla's reaction was immense. Rafa Mir stood up and put his disallowed goal in the shadows and got what he deserved. The man from Murcia latched on to Rakitic's header in the six-yard box and the Sánchez-Pizjuán had scarves swinging and chants being sang once again.                                                                      

Papu Gómez scored, with an assist from Óliver, to put the cherry on the cake in what was a great comeback.                                        

And well-deserved, for all the suffering and the distress of the closing stages, the forth and definitive goal arrived and sent Sevilla to the 60 point mark in LaLiga, momentarily moving the team into second place and seven points clear of fifth. Papu Gómez and Óliver Torres, who were both back from injuries, were the star players in those closing stages. Torres' low pass to the Argentinian evaded Maximiano in another piece of great teamwork. Now, the team have a nine day reprieve to recover for the game against Real Madrid at the Sánchez-Pizjuán.

GAME SUMMARY

4. SEVILLA FC: Bono, Jesús Navas, Koundé, Diego Carlos (Gudelj, 79'), Augustinsson, Jordán, Rakitic, Tecatito (Ó. Torres, 84'), Ocampos (Rafa Mir, 67'), Martial (Papu Gómez, 67') and En-Nesyri (Lamela, 46').

2. GRANADA CF: Maximiano, Víctor Díaz, Duarte (Quini, 71'), Torrente (Germán, 15'), Escudero (Jorge Molina, 83'), Eteki (Soro, 83'), Milla, Petrovic, Uzumi, Machís (Arezo, 71') and Luis Suárez.

GOALS: 0-1 Machís, 22'. 1-1 Diego Carlos, 31'. 2-1 Ocampos, 66'. 2-2 Víctor Díaz, 88'. 3-2 Rafa Mir, 92'. 4-2 Papu Gómez, 97'.

REFEREE: Ortiz Arias. Yellows for Eteki, Jordán, Luis Suárez and Rafa Mir.