Jorge Sampaoli secured his first win since his return as Sevilla manager earlier this month with a 1-0 victory away at Mallorca. After two draws in his first two games back in Andalucia, in both La Liga and the Champions League, the Argentine secured all three points in Palma thanks to Nemanja Gudelj’s second-half wonder goal.
The hosts caught the eye early on, with Yassine Bounou producing two superb sprawling saves to deny Abdon Prats. After the restart, however, Sevilla stormed ahead as Nemanja Gudelj cannoned home from 30 yards out.
That jolted the visitors into life in the closing stages, as Gudelj headed an excellent chance just wide, before Yassine Bonou came to Sevilla’s rescue yet again, this time with a late save from substitute Angel Rodriguez.
Meanwhile, Atletico Madrid overcame the disappointment of their poor Champions League performance to win their third consecutive LaLiga game. This season, Los Rojiblancos are fighting to stay in the Champions League, but they moved up to third place with a 1-0 win away at Athletic Club.
Diego Simeone’s side edged a tight first 45 minutes in Bilbao as VAR ruled Alvaro Morata’s goal offside. However, the visitors took the lead less than two minutes after the restart, as the Spaniard set up Antoine Griezmann to score his first goal since joining the club on a permanent basis earlier this month.
After falling behind, the hosts failed to respond, with VAR ruling against a penalty in their favour for handball during 11 minutes of added time. Simeone’s next match is a derby against Rayo Vallecano in midweek before Athletic travels to Madrid to face Getafe.
In Friday night action, Rayo Vallecano welcomed Getafe across the Spanish capital, but neither side were able to find a breakthrough. Andoni Iraola’s side play another derby game at Atletico Madrid in midweek.
