With four sendings-off, a comical own goal and a belting late equaliser from Nemanja Gudelj, the game lived up to its billing
“Well, this is a derby,” Real Betis’s Edgar González was saying, but it was hard not to be drawn to the pitch behind him where opponent Nemanja Gudelj was pacing about shaking his head. At the final whistle, the Sevilla defender had covered his face with his hands and just stood doubled over, elbows on knees. Ivan Rakitic approached and they went through it once more, although it was a wonder they could hear anything. Next was Jesús Navas, the pair picking over the moment a vital victory slipped away. Now, waiting near the touchline for his turn to talk, they were going to ask Gudelj to relive it all over again on camera. He bit his lip, smiled and said: “I’m a bit angry with myself. I should have hit it better.”
Better?! The 138th Seville derby had finished 1-1 and Gudelj, son of a footballer and a basketball player, brother of a footballer and a tennis player, had scored the equaliser that earned Sevilla a precious point which pulled them out of the relegation zone. He had done so with an outrageous shot from somewhere over the other side of the Triana Bridge. “Buenisimo,” said the man he beat. It was only his second goal for Sevilla – his first had been an equally absurd effort from a similar place that secured victory in Mallorca three weeks earlier – and it could not have been hit better, the scoreboard behind the net flashing up golazos with impeccable and accidental timing as it tore 32 yards through the air.
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