Real Betis, with goals from Pablo Fornals and Sergi Altimira, won a tense derby at the home of Sevilla FC (0-2), which ended with one less due to the expulsion of Isaac Romero before the match was stopped for more than a quarter of an hour due to the throwing of objects from the stands, in a fourteenth day of LaLiga EA Sports in which a goal by Alberto Moleiro in the 95th minute allowed Villarreal rescue a victory against Real Sociedad (2-3).
After a week of great tension, the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán showed two teams with excessive respect, focused on not making mistakes, in a first half with hardly any chances, with Pablo García, on the green and white side, and José Ángel Carmona and Djibril Sow, on the Nervionense side, trying to surprise from afar.
Although Matías Almeyda’s men were the ones who managed to play the most in the rival field, the clearest opportunity in the first 45 minutes was for the Betic team; In the 38th minute, Odisseas Vlachodimos showed a providential hand to stop Abde who was one-on-one, and Pablo Fornals was unsuccessful on the rebound.
It was the Castellón midfielder, precisely, who managed to unbalance the balance of the derby upon returning from the locker room, in a play started with a long pass from Álvaro Valles in which Baptiste Mendy fell asleep and lost the ball in his own half; Fornals steals it and, after cutting off two defenders in the area, defines the near post to avoid Vlachodimos’ stretch (min.54).
The Greek goalkeeper appeared shortly after to prevent Pablo García’s second, and Almeyda soon brought on Alexis Sánchez and Isaac Romero to try to respond. However, the verdiblanca decision came again from the boots of Fornals, who took a corner that Sergi Altimira, very alone at the far post, sent into the back of the net (min.68).
Manuel Pellegrini’s men forgave the third goal in the 71st minute in an action in which Abde made a mistake when giving the ball to ‘Cucho’ Hernández, and Akor Adams responded in the clearest way for the Sevillistas in the second half by dribbling past Valles before Marc Bartra thwarted the goal.
In the 84th minute, the desperation of the local team became evident after Isaac Romero saw a straight red card for a foul from behind without the ball on Valentín Gómez, and just a few minutes later, in the 88th minute, Munuera Montero stopped the match for more than 15 minutes due to the throwing of objects from one of the backs, with a bottle about to hit Valles. The match resumed without incident, but the scoreboard did not move.
The victory consolidates Real Betis in fifth place with 24 units, four ahead of the first of the contenders to enter Europe. Meanwhile, Sevilla (16) suffers its fifth defeat in the last six league games and worsens its crisis, although it remains five points from both the continental positions and the burning zone.
MOLEIRO DELIVERS SENTENCE IN THE LAST MINUTE IN ANOETA
Hours before, at the Reale Arena, Villarreal rescued the victory against Real Sociedad with a goal from Alberto Moleiro in stoppage time, who had managed to neutralize the 0-2 with which the Castellón team had taken the lead in the contest. With this result, Marcelino García Toral’s team rose to second position in the table.
A goal from Ayoze Pérez, after a great assist from Alfonso Pedraza, after the first half hour, gave the Castellón team an advantage, as they sought to counterattack a Basque team that was trying to maintain its control of the ball and that had the clearest of the first half in a header from Aritz Elustondo that was deflected by Luiz Júnior.
Marcelino’s team seemed to put an end to the match in the 57th minute with a shot from Moleiro that removed the cobwebs from Alex Remiro’s goal, but the ‘txuri urdin’ team reacted. Carlos Soler, who had scored the second rival goal due to an inopportune slip, managed to make up for it shortly after, in the 60th minute, with a great goal from the balcony of the area.
Luiz Júnior appeared again to prevent the tie from Gonçalo Guedes, who tried his luck with a brilliant shot from the edge of the area, but could do nothing in the 87th minute when Ander Barrenetxea connected with a direct free kick that created a perfect parabola to sneak into the back of the net.
When everything was heading towards the distribution of points, Moleiro emerged in the 95th minute to complete his double with a great volley and, in the process, recover the victory, the fifth consecutive in LaLiga, for Villarreal, which reaches 32 points. Sergio Francisco’s men, for their part, are left with 16, five away from the privileged zone, and interrupt a series of five league games without losing.