Betis came into the derby in better form, and almost scored inside the first minute. Isco, who never played in a Seville derby while at Sevilla, headed straight into Marko Dmitrovic’s arms in acres of space in the box.
15 minutes later, the visitors found the back of the net, only for Hector Bellerin to be denied his first goal for the club by an offside flag.
Isco was pulling the strings against his old team, and set up Betis’ other full-back Juan Miranda, only for his first effort to be saved by Dmitrovic before he skied the rebound from close range.
The second half began like the first, as Isco glided through midfield effortlessly before setting up Ayoze Perez, whose shot struck the outside of the post. He had another chance five minutes later, but shot straight at Dmitrovic.
The former Leicester man would eventually get his goal though, netting his fourth of the season after pouncing on a mistake from the opposition goalkeeper.
Sevilla needed to find inspiration from somewhere, and boy did they get it from Ivan Rakitic. With just over 10 minutes left, the veteran unleashed an unstoppable rocket into the top corner from distance - his seventh career goal against Betis.
They held on for a point, despite the visitors having the ball in the net again moments later, only for the goal to be ruled out for the ball going out of play.
The draw is Sevilla’s fourth in a row in La Liga, and despite rising two places up to 13th, they remain considerably closer to the drop zone than the European places.
As for Betis, their five-game winning streak in all competitions comes to an end as they missed the chance to move into the top-six, and Manuel Pellegrini would have been particularly disappointed not to keep a clean sheet, as they have now failed to do so in nine consecutive league matches.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Isco (Real Betis)
