Unai Emery reflects that poor finishing saw Sevilla struggle to close out victory away to Portuguese side Estoril.
Thursday evening saw the Andalucians begin their Europa League group stage with a 2-1 win away to Estoril.
However, substitute Kevin Gameiro’s winner came only after the hosts provided a scare in quickly cancelling out Vitolo’s opener.
“This is an important satisfaction because we have begun with a win and gotten going. We have settled on having optimistic ambitions in this competition,” Emery reflected after the game.
“During the first half we had control and had done enough to move ahead, but we lacked the goals. The second half was in the same vein and we struggled to open the scoring, but when we thought that the game was in our favour, it was not.
“They equalised and left us hit, but the reaction was good. The team reacted and made it 2-1 for the game. We had many attacks to make the game easier, but we were tired by the end.
“They also had a clear effort that Javi Varas saved, so we are grateful for him. The bottom line is that we are deserved winners and we had the chance of winning better.
“We also looked to give minutes to those with fewer so far.”
