Sevilla and Alaves played out a goalless LaLiga draw at Estadio Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan, a result which leaves the hosts with just one win in the last eight head-to-heads.
The out-of-form visitors should’ve opened the scoring in just the third minute, but despite being unmarked at the far post, Yusi could only direct a powerful header wide of the upright.
Sevilla goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos had to be alert when the visitors tried to score direct from a corner, and along with a well-struck Gabriel Suazo free-kick, that was the nearest either team came to scoring in the opening half-hour.
Right on the 30-minute mark, Angel Perez’s challenge on Felix Correia inside the area was deemed to be worthy of a penalty.
Ruben Vargas stepped up in the hope of scoring his first goal since November last year, but Antonio Sivera was equal to his effort, diving to his right and saving only the fourth spot-kick of his career. As the first half came to a close, Sevilla were in the ascendancy, but some great defending from the likes of Ville Koski and Nicolas Valentini kept the contest goalless.
The visitors were under intense pressure at the start of the second half and were barely able to get out of their half. However, Sevilla were unable to take advantage thanks to some excellent defending and Sivera’s superb save from a Lucas Stassin point-blank downward header.
On the hour, Koski’s looping header at the other end caused problems, but was cleared off the line as Alaves briefly threatened. Sevilla were immediately back on top, and Juan Iglesias’ stunning volley from the edge of the box was heroically cleared off the line by Pablo Ibanez, before Correia bent an effort wide when well placed.
Alaves’ staying power earned them a chance to snatch victory late on, but only Carlos Protesoni will know how he missed the target with a low right-footed shot from six yards out.
To both teams’ credit, they continued to attack as the game entered its final stages., but neither could find a winner and the spoils were shared. It’s now just one win in six league games for Sevilla, although they still occupy a top-six place ahead of this weekend’s fixture. For Alaves, they still haven’t won away this term (D3, L3), and have now gone eight games without a victory at any venue (D3, L5).
Flashscore Man of the Match: Gabriel Suazo (Sevilla)
Check out the match stats here.