FC Barcelona 1-0 Sevilla: Poetic justice

FC Barcelona and Sevilla served a Friday footballing feast at Estadi Olímpic, and given the amount of drama out on the pitch, it seems amazing that there was only one goal scored, and an own goal at that.

The defending Liga champions certainly had chances to win this one by a bigger margin, but the visitors had their moments too, and ultimately it was Sergio Ramos who made the difference, but by diverting Lamine Yamal’s header into his own net.

The result puts Barça back on top the league table for now, although former leaders Girona and now third-placed Real Madrid both have games to play at the weekend.

Fast and furious

Sevilla’s season hasn’t got off to anything like the kind of start they would have hoped for. But that wasn’t at all apparent in this game, with some simply stupendous football being played by both sides.

Barça were generally on top, and their many chances to take a first half lead included João Félix firing onto the crossbar and a Fermín López turn-and-shoot from close range that went straight into the visiting keeper’s hands.

Raphinha also came close, but in the process something went wrong and he was forced to withdraw injured.

Sevilla’s attacks were less frequent but just as dangerous. Ter Stegen dealt spectacularly with a shot from his former team-mate Ivan Rakitic, and Gavi’s chest came to the rescue when Lucas Ocampos was very worryingly well-placed to score.

Ramos own goal

As the game progressed, more and more of the football was being played in the Andalusian half of the pitch. Barça pressed and pressed, but no matter how many times they got into goalscoring positions, Sevilla’s tight positioning meant there always seemed to be white shirt to get in the way.
And when Barça finally cracked it, it was because a white shirt got more in the way than the opposition would have liked.

Lamine Yamal rose to meet a lovely cross from Ferran Torres. His backward header was looking for a team-mate running through but instead the ball struck Sergio Ramos. The man who has played Barça more times than anyone else ever had now scored a goal for the team too.

Holding on

The goal changed the whole dynamic. Sevilla hadn’t exactly been sitting back and defending, but ultimately they would probably have been happy enough with a draw.

Naturally, there was now more urgency in their game. But Barça stood their ground at the back and the closing minutes passed without major incident.

Three more points that proved extremely difficult to earn, but they’re in the bag and that’s four Liga wins out of four at the Estadi Olímpic!