The away side were much quicker out of the traps at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium, and were well on top in the opening exchanges.
Their impressive start was rubber-stamped when Dimitri Foulquier’s cross into the area beat goalkeeper Bono, who had rushed off his line, and Cavani was on hand to head into an empty net from close range, making it 1-0 after only six minutes.
The Uruguayan striker has now scored three goals in five games for Valencia in La Liga, one more than he did in 15 matches for Manchester United in the Premier League last season.
This early setback woke Sevilla up somewhat, and they came close to equalising on two occasions 10 minutes later. Firstly, Rafa Mir’s shot from distance was well saved by Giorgi Mamardashvili, and the keeper was alert again to push the Spanish forward’s header away to safety from the resulting corner.
Mir must have thought there was a curse on him in front of goal, as he found the left corner in the early stages of the second half but saw the flag go up for offside to keep the score at 1-0.
Sevilla were much improved after the break, and twice came close to equalising through Nemanja Gudelj, who was denied by Mamardashvili, before heading onto the bar from a corner.
In a frantic finale, Sevilla found a deserved equaliser when substitute Lamela found the net from close range, before Valencia were handed a golden opportunity to win it when Kike Salas gave away a penalty and was shown a straight red card.
However, Jose Gaya had his spot-kick palmed away by Bono to ensure a share of the spoils. Following this crazy conclusion, the Rojiblancos climb up to 11th place, while Valencia remain eighth in LaLiga.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Giorgi Mamardashvili (Valencia)
