One of the most keenly anticipated fixtures in every La Liga season is El Gran Derbi, the battle of Seville that pits Real Betis against their great rivals, Sevilla.
Betis welcomed Sevilla to the Benito Villamarin for a clash that was, sadly, without supporters, but still had serious talent on display. Betis captain Joaquin missed out, however, after testing positive for covid-19 alongside teammates Alex Moreno, Marc Montoya and Andres Guardado.
Sevilla came into the game in fourth place, building quietly but strongly throughout the season and beginning to come into their own. They were three points behind Real Sociedad in third but with three games in hand. Betis were tenth, but decidedly closer to the bottom of the table than the top.
Betis started the game the better of the two sides, coming close on a couple of occasions. It was Sevilla, however, who took the lead shortly after the second-half got underway. Youssef En-Nesyri, on at half-time, did well to find Suso, whose left-footed finish was accurate and true.
Soon after, Betis hit back. Sergio Canales, fresh off a brace at Levante this past week, stepped up to the plate to bury a penalty kick in the bottom left corner. Just back from a six-week injury layoff, he was the best player on the pitch in the Seville afternoon.
Betis had the chance to take the lead later in the game, when Nabil Fekir won another spot kick. This time he was the one to take it instead of Canales, the usual taker, and he couldn’t replicate the Cantabrian’s success, seeing his effort saved.
Nabil Fekir has a penalty saved by Bono! 🖐
After a brilliant penalty by Canales earlier, Betis change their penalty taker and potentially miss a chance to win the derby 😬 pic.twitter.com/cxpeqrrc5S
— Premier Sports 📺 (@PremierSportsTV) January 2, 2021
