Seville 0-0 Mallorca
The atmosphere around the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan before this match could have been better. Los Nervionenses had been booed off in recent weeks and almost every single goal had been hard work since February.
This match did little to help them. Sevilla could have secured their place in the Champions League with a victory and despite dominating the ball, rarely did that look likely.
The first half set the tone for the second as Sevilla penned Mallorca in and flung crosses at their defence. Despite a couple of close calls, there was little to trouble Manolo Reina.
Mallorca tried to break, playing off the excellent hold-up play of Vedad Muriqi, with varying degrees of success. Maybe the most irritating for Sevilla fans was the lack of change and true to form, Bono would be called on to make a crucial save.
As Sevilla got more desperate, so did their attempts to break Mallorca down. Until stoppage time, both Mallorca and Sevilla had the same amount of shots on target. Seville finally seemed to pry open the islanders in stoppage time, but it was too little, too late.
Antony Martial couldn’t beat Reina one-on-one from the angle, before Youssef En-Nesyri’s header forced an excellent stop from Reina as the final whistle came around the corner.
Whistles greeted the Sevilla team after the referee blew his for the final time, they relinquished second place for good with this draw, staying six points off the Catalans.
Mallorca are in a curious position. What was a well won and hard-earned point seems like it might not be enough. With two games remaining, they must make up at least a two point gap, with Cadiz in action tomorrow.
