Barça’s excellent form has continued, and coupled with the 1-1 draw in Saturday’s Madrid derby are now breathing right down the necks of the front two in La Liga.
The 3-1 win at the Sánchez Pizjuán means they are now just one point behind second-placed Atlético Madrid and two short of Real Madrid at the top.
But Sunday was no easy ride in the Andalusian capital, not helped by the loss of Fermin Lopez to a red card early in the second half.
However, the Catalans were already two goals up by that stage and not only held onto their lead but even extended it on their way to collecting three very heartening points.
The downside, an injury to Ronald Araujo that meant he had to leave the field in the 22nd minute of the first half.
Early goals each way
The game got off to an electrifying start. Ørjan Nyland’s gloves were still burning after a sizzling save to deny Lamine Yamal when Iñigo Martinez rose to nod a seventh minute cross into the path of Robert Lewandowski. Perfectly positioned as always, the Pole finished off the job, but the early joy lasted less than a minute.
Straight from the restart, Saúl Ñíguez broke Hansi Flick’s famous offside trap to pick out Rubén Vargas at the far post and we were to where we started.
From there a fascinatingly tight contest ensued. Culers will feel our side had the edge in the first half, but sevillistas have every right to argue that point.
Jules Kounde, now ranked fifth for appearances for a Frenchman in the blaugrana jersey, came closest for Barça, while Sevilla’s best chance of the first half was a spectacular overhead attempt by Dodi Lukébakio that Wojciech Szczesny did superbly well to keep out.
Fermin and Raphinha!
But it wasn’t until the second half that we saw another goal, when Barça scored even quicker than they had in the first. It began with a fine chip through from Pedri, superb today, and it ended with Fermin Lopez, his first touch of the ball after coming on at half-time, heading Barça back into the lead.
Again Sevilla responded in less than a minute, but this time the goal was very clearly offside, and instead Barça extended their lead with an absolutely stunning long-range finish from Raphinha. We’ve seen the Brazilian score that kind of goal umpteen times before, and that was another beauty for his swelling collection.
Red card
3-1 up and Barça were jiving, but the positive momentum took a turn for the worse when Fermin was red-carded for a rather late challenge.
Barça were on an extraordinary streak of 18 games without losing to Sevilla, and although they were two goals to the good in this one, they’d be playing the last half hour a man down.
It could have been a nervy finale, but Barça held their shape and allowed the home side next to nothing in the way of chances to get back into the game. Instead, they even ended up extending their lead.
In the 89th minute, Raphinha’s cross was nodded home by Eric García.
4-1 and this was well and truly won. La Liga is red hot, with just two points separating the top three sides, with Barça now off until next Monday when they host Rayo Vallecano at the Estadi Olimpic at 9pm CET.