After an incredibly slow start to the season, Sevilla are left kicking themselves that they’re not looking stronger in LaLiga's European race.
No fewer than six teams are battling for seventh spot, and Sevilla must’ve thought for all the world their fortunes were about to take a turn for the better when Rafa Mir was left unmarked in the box, but his header drifted agonisingly wide of the post.
Chances were at a premium in a relatively abject first half, but Valladolid should undoubtedly have gone in ahead when Sergio Escudero had an open goal at his mercy, only for a last-ditch Loic Bade block to deny him at the death.
That block helped ensure Sevilla went into the break on level terms, but they were handed a huge stroke of luck bang on half-time.
In a crazy end to the first half, referee Miguel Angel Ortiz Arias blew the half-time whistle as Escudero unleashed an absolute rocket of an effort from 30 yards which flew in, prompting angry scenes from Valladolid players, staff and fans.
If Valladolid weren’t already feeling incensed, they certainly were within five minutes of the restart when Gonzalo Montiel’s cross was guided home by the chest of Mir.
Perhaps acutely aware of the clanger he’d dropped in the first half, the referee handed Valladolid a lifeline shortly after, as he ruled out a perfectly good Bade goal for a seemingly non-existent push in the back of his marker.
Fortunately for Sevilla, that didn’t prove costly as shortly after Papu Gomez rounded Jordi Masip in the Valladolid goal and rolled home to place the game beyond any reasonable doubt to move Sevilla into seventh place.
It was a tough day for Valladolid, whose misery was compounded in stoppage time when Jesus Corona added a third, but with three of their four remaining games coming against teams around them, hope remains they can beat the drop.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Papu Gomez (Sevilla)
