Sevilla defeat 10-man Valencia 2–0
Sevilla gained vital ground on their La Liga rivals on Monday, 8 November, after beating Valencia 2–0 at home.
The visiting team were reduced to 10 men after Mehmet Topal's contentious dismissal midway through the first period. Two second-half strikes from Alvaro Negredo and Alejandro Alfaro sealed the win for
Gregorio Manzano's team.
"My side still had the aim of winning despite being a man down," Valencia boss Unai Emery told reporters after the game. "We played a great rival, and had the chance to equalise. We will continue to work
hard, and I have full confidence in my players. We may have slipped from fourth place, but we want to regain the position."
Sevilla put the pressure on early at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan stadium when Diego Perotti raced clear on the right flank and crossed for Luis Fabiano at the near post.
The Brazilian's slightly mishit first-time strike forced an alert save from Cesar Sanchez in Valencia's goal.
Soon after, Sanchez' goal kick floated over the Sevilla defence, letting Juan Manuel Mata in behind to hit a left-footed strike that was parried by Javi Varas.
Topal sees red 22 minutes in
The defining moment of the game came in the 22nd minute, when Topal let the ball a little too far ahead of him before backing into a late tackle on Martin Caceres.
The Turk received a straight red card for the offence for going in with his studs up as the away team went down to 10 men.
Despite the sending off, Manuel Fernandes could have given Valencia the lead before the end of the first half, but his free kick from the edge of the box failed to hit the target after it cleared the wall.
The home team were finally rewarded nine minutes into the second half, when Vicente Guaita, on for the injured Sanchez at half time, parried Caceres' shot into the path of substitute Negredo, who reacted
quickly and struck the rebound between the keeper's legs to give his team the lead.
Fabiano then came close again, hitting a volley that bounced into the ground and looped onto Guaita's crossbar before coming back out.
As Sevilla continued their dominance, Negredo met the ball with a diving header at the back post only to miss the target and sustain an injury in the process.
Alfaro seals the win for Sevilla
Another header was soon to put the victory beyond doubt, when right-back Mouhamadou Dabo's cross found Alfaro in front of goal, whose only task was to head the ball into the open goal.
Diego Capel's left-footed strike for Sevilla thumped off the far post in the dying minutes to cap off an entertaining game.
The victory sees Sevilla draw level on points with Valencia in the league table. Manzano's team are now sixth in the league with 17 points, trailing fifth-placed Valencia by goal difference.
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