Papu Gomez put Sevilla in front before Ronald Araujo equalized for Barcelona on the stroke of half time, and then Jules Kounde was sent off in the 64th minute.
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Barcelona and Sevilla played out an entertaining 1-1 draw in the La Liga fixture at Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan on Tuesday. Papu Gomez put Sevilla in front before Ranald Araujo equalized for the visitors before the break. Meanwhile after the hour-mark Sevilla defender Jules Kounde was sent off for throwing the ball at Jordi Alba but the home side managed to defend well and hold on to the draw and share points.
FT #SevillaFCBarça 1-1@SevillaFC_ENG and @FCBarcelona share the points at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan. ?#LaLigaSantander pic.twitter.com/C8hymNNckH
— LaLiga English (@LaLigaEN) December 21, 2021
Sevilla who are placed second in the points table were the second best team on the day but defended pretty well to earn a point. Last weekend’s pulsating 2-1 win over Atletico Madrid seems to have taken a toll on the players as they were a bit slow and lost the ball possession on a number of occasions. Meanwhile the Catalan club dominated the ball possession and created more chances but failed to find the winner despite playing the last 25 minutes with a man advantage.
Before the half-hour-mark, Rafael Mir’s shot from outside the box went just over the bar. At the other end, Ousmane Dembele tested Sevilla goalkeeper Yassine Bono. However, against the run of play, Sevilla took the lead in the 32nd minute. It was a well worked set-piece. Ivan Rakitic’s low corner-kick was nicely slotted home by Gomez.
Barcelona responded well as they tried to work their way in and continued to attack and finally leveled the score on the stroke of half time.It was yet another corner-kick from the right flank that led to the goal. Dembele’s delivery found Araujo inside the box, who rose adobe his marker to head home past Bono and into the net.
The second was also competitive as both teams wanted all three points. At times it got a bit physical and strong challenges started flying in. Sevilla created more dangerous situations from set-pieces. However, things took a u-turn as Kounde received a straight red card for throwing the ball at Alba’s face in front of the referee.
That incident forced Sevilla to change their game plan and they went on the back foot. Meanwhile Barcelona pushed men forward for the winner, but the hosts stayed compact at the back and didn’t give any space for the Barca attackers to work with. The best chance of the match fell to Gavi. Alba’s brilliant cross from the left flank found the youngster inside the box, but the Spanish midfielder’s header from six yards out went just over the bar.
The Blaugrana tried their luck from outside the box. Dembele’s left-foot curler struck the inside of the post. Barcelona kept on attacking as Dembele’s cross found Luuk de Jong’s head but Bono made the save.
The match deservedly ended all square. Although Barcelona boss Xavi would be slightly disappointed to not take all three points despite playing well against 10-man sevilla, to show such fighting spirit is an encouraging sign.
After the draw Sevilla have 38 points from 18 games, five behind leaders Real Madrid, while Barcelona are languishing at the seventh spot with 28 points. Meanwhile, within just 30 days of taking charge, Xavi has made considerable improvement in the team. They play with much more clarity going forward and the defence looks more stable.
Araujo faced the press after the match and praised his team’s performance although he did admit it was disappointing not to take home all three points.
“I think it’s a step forward. It was a great performance against a tough rival away from home,” he said.
“I think we deserved more. I think we had a good first half, it’s a shame about their goal, we didn’t defend it well but credit to them. What we want to do is pick up points and move up the table.
“We are working hard, with a lot of young players, it’s a shame. We just need a couple more goals to kill off games like this. I’m sure you will see an improved Barca in the second half of the season.”
