Sevilla comes back against Espanyol, leaving them on the brink of defeat

BarcelonaEspanyol presents a very bad image. One more matchday they continue without winning, and now it's 18. In Seville, in a life-or-death duel against a direct rival, they were on the verge of achieving it (2-1). But in the final moments of the match, a goal from Castrín equalized Tyrhys Dolan's 0-1 and frustrated the virtual permanence of the 'periquitos', who ended up falling in a very cruel way with a second goal in injury time from Adams.

Two defensive errors rescue the Andalusians -they are now above the 'periquitos'- and leave Espanyol on the verge of death. With a bad dynamic of six points out of 54 with three matchdays left, and only two points above relegation, they are in serious danger of dropping back to the Second Division. The faces of the players and the coach at the end of the match, all desolate, confirm the extent of the tragedy.

Espanyol does not react

Manolo González no longer knows what to do to lift the team. In Seville, he tried giving Rubén Sánchez the starting position, but neither he nor any of his teammates have stepped onto the Sánchez-Pizjuán pitch, which has been turned into a hell due to the importance of the match for the locals, with the conviction of winning. From the initial whistle, which was delayed ten minutes due to a problem with VAR, Sevilla, with more heart than head, has been close to scoring.

If the white-and-blues, nervous and imprecise as is usual, have survived the locals' dazzling start, it has been thanks to Marko Dmitrovic, who has prevented Isaac Romero's goal with a reflex save. Serbian holy cards should be distributed in Cornellà-El Prat.

Espanyol has a problem with scoring goals

Sevilla has also been relying on the performances of its goalkeeper for months, a Vlachodimos who denied Edu Expósito the 0-1. It would have barely been the second goal for the 'periquitos' since the beginning of April, one of the main reasons for their crisis in results. The action was preceded by a very dangerous recovery by the midfielder from Cubelles, who shot directly into the Greek's hands. It was the first approach from an Espanyol that has gradually gotten a grip on a match full of tension, tackles, and long balls; a final for survival no matter how you look at it, which could have been decided at the beginning of the second half.

The first ball that Alexis Sánchez, who replaced Romero at halftime, touched was a goal. But VAR disallowed it for a millimeter offside. Espanyol was lucky that the video arbitration had been fixed before the start.

Minutes later, the miracle happened: Espanyol scored again. Roberto's faith, who crossed a ball that was going out of bounds, served as an assist for Dolan, who took advantage of a Sevilla defense error to blast past Vlachodimos. The Englishman made several bows and the entire bench jumped onto the field to celebrate. Manolo, aware that there was more than half an hour left in the match, didn't even move.

The instruction from then on was clear: cool down the game and maintain the result at all costs, but this Espanyol is made of glass. And with ten minutes left, they conceded the equalizer due to a collective error that allowed center-back Castrín to enter the box and beat a not-so-sharp Marko Dmitrovic. In stoppage time, Adams definitively sank the 'blanquiazules' with a shot from the edge of the area after another mistake by the Catalan defense. Espanyol could no longer recover from the blow. They have three games to do so.