Sevilla draw with Valladolid after Asenjo's gift
After losing their season opener 2-1 at Osasuna, Los Nervionenses looked to avenge that result and were on the front foot from the off. Óliver Torres lashed a shot into the side-netting and debutant Tanguy Nianzou headed over, but the best passage of play in the first half came when former Tottenham attacking midfielder Erik Lamela surged upfield. After exchanging passes with Rafa Mir, the Argentina international played a sumptuous reverse pass back into the path of the striker, who pulled the trigger but was denied by the right foot of goalkeeper Sergio Asenjo.
Valladolid then had a golden chance of their own before HT, as Papu Gómez inexplicably booted the ball blindly across the edge of his own box. Nianzou miscontrolled and Anuar Tuhami headed into the path of Sergi Guardiola, but he was unable to dink the ball over the sprightly Bono. That gave Sevilla’s HT parity a more fortuitous feel, although a Lamela strike thundered off Asenjo’s left-hand post just before the whistle as a reminder of the hosts’ dominance.
Valladolid were up in arms shortly after the interval when Guardiola was challenged by Nianzou in the area, with the centre-back appearing to clip the frontman before making contact with the ball. However, referee Juan Pulido waved play on after a VAR check. Just after the hour mark, Julen Lopetegui introduced Lucas Ocampos and Youssef En-Nesyri, and both players could have scored moments after coming on. Gonzalo Montiel’s cross was met by the head of Ocampos from point-blank range, but he could only direct the ball into the path of En-Nesyri, who blasted over at the back post.
Isco’s introduction got the biggest cheer of the night as he came on for his debut, but the home fans were stunned into silence on 80 minutes, when Tahumi picked up the ball 25 yards out and skipped beyond Ocampos and Ivan Rakitić, before showing ice-cool composure to pick out Bono’s right-hand corner.
Their lead lasted just six minutes though, as an innocuous flicked header into the box by En-Nesyri was fumbled by Asenjo into the path of Karim Rekik, who gleefully slotted into the empty net. A late melee following a bad challenge near the dugouts saw Marcos Acuña – who had already been substituted – given a red card for his protests on 89 minutes, and that effectively killed all momentum, leaving both sides still searching for their first victory of the campaign.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Erik Lamela (Sevilla)