In week 20 of La Liga, Sevilla cut the distance from the top of the standings in the Spanish League, winning this past Sunday in the Estadio Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán against Valencia 2-1. The victory brought Sevilla 36 points and a position in fourth place; despite the loss, Valencia ended with 39 points and in third place. Seilla now has a spot in the UEFA Champion’s League, and is only inches away from the top three spots in the standings.

Playing in their home stadium, Sevilla took control of the match from the first minute, putting pressure on the midfield and leaving no space for David Villa, Valencia’s superstar striker. The Palanganas created their scoring chances through Frederic Kanoute and Alvaro Negredo in the midfield and with Jesus Navas and Diego Perotti on the sidelines.

Negredo opened the score in minute 21 with a corner kick off of a pass from his teammate, Frenchman Julien Escude. The right kick sent the ball to the back of Cesar Sanchez’s net, putting the score 1-0.

Valencia tried to respond to the goal but was unable to find the space to connect plays in the offense in order to reach the goal defended by Sevilla goalkeeper Andrés Palop.

The first half ended 1-0 in favor of Sevilla.

Sevilla continued in the same tone in the second half, pressuring and incorporating six players in the front to stretch their lead and take greater control of the game.

David Villa tried to level the match by playing in an area that was not usual for him, attempting long shots; his action, however, simply facilitated Sevilla’s defensive action, which presented a difficult obstacle.

Negredo reappeared to add another goal. At minute 69, he took control of the ball from outside the box after a pass from Jesus Navas; then, with a left-footed shot, Negredo again beat Sanchez, who despite his attempts could do nothing to prevent Negredo’s second goal. The score was brought to 2-0 in favor of Sevilla.

Down by two goals, Valencia pressured Sevilla and created two opportunities, but Villa was unable to capitalize. Thus, Valencia wasn’t able to open the score until the 90th minute, when David Navarro scored after a great header. But the goal came too late; Valencia was unable to tie the scoring and snag a point in one of the most complicated fields in the Spanish League.

At the end, the match ended 2-1 in favor of Sevilla.

Valencia coach Unai Emery stated that his team didn’t deserve the loss, and that Sevilla did very little extraordinary to beat Valencia in the end.

"I leave with the feeling that the team didn't deserve to lose Sevilla has gained a great reward with little effort and I think the first goal was the key moment. They created virtually no danger but we lacked a little conviction when in attack. We lacked effectiveness up front, we were uncertain in front of goal. We needed to be more aggressive in attack. We had to do that a little more to lead the way in the game," said Coach Emery.

Sevilla’s next match will be against Zaragoza on February 7th, while Valencia will face Valladolid on the same day.

About the Author

Ally White has been a prominent writer on daily Spanish League Soccer; sports news and the sportsbetting industry for many exceptional sport web sites. You may reprint this article in its full content, please note no modifications to it are accepted.