Sevilla loses ground after home draw with Villarreal
Samir Nasri failed from the penalty spot in the 49th minute, Wissam Ben Yedder had his goal disallowed for offside in the 59th, and Vicente Iborra’s close-range header was brilliantly saved by Villarreal goalkeeper Sergio Asenjo in the 82nd, stopping Sevilla from gaining much ground in the standings.
Sevilla was coming off a 3-1 loss at Espanyol, a result that halted its five-game winning streak in the league, which revived its hopes of contending for the title.
In addition to guessing right in stopping Nasri’s penalty kick, he made two superb saves from close-range headers, one in each half.
The most spectacular save came after Iborra’s attempt near the end, when Asenjo outstretched his right arm to reach the ball just before it crossed the goal line.
“We created a lot of scoring chances,” Sevilla defender Adil Rami said.
The league has to set a date for the match between Celta and Madrid, which was called off after Vigo officials said they could not guarantee the “safety of spectators and players” after winds tore off parts of the roof at Balaidos Stadium.
Madrid also still has to play a league game at Valencia after it was postponed because of Madrid’s participation in FIFA’s Club World Cup in December.
Real Sociedad scored three goals in 15 minutes in the second half to secure victory over Osasuna.
Second-to-last Osasuna saw its winless streak reach 13 league matches.
Promoted Alaves cruised to victory at struggling Sporting Gijon despite playing without most of its regular starters ahead of this week’s Copa del Rey semifinal against Celta Vigo.
Sporting, winless in seven consecutive league games, remained in the relegation zone.