Cause for Concern

By: Anthony | December 18th, 2008

We went into Sunday’s game sitting in that fourth and final Champions League spot and only one point above fifth place Real Madrid. We knew at the beginning of the game that it wasn’t going to be easy as Villarreal were in second and playing some amazing football this year so they are definitely no pushovers.

Jimenez started with a somewhat strange lineup when he started Renato slotted in just behind Kanoute instead of our favourable two, Luis Fabiano and the big Malian. Also, Drago started at left-back for the fatigued Fernando Navarro, and Konko on the right instead of Mosquera. Diego Capel still being not being match fit was on the bench and starting was the ever lively Adriano. Also in the midfield was Duscher and Romaric who were both playing in defensive roles in hopes to keep a clean sheet against a prominently strong attacking team.

The game started off in our favour when Adriano (who was definitely man of the match) put in a perfect cross only for Kanoute and Renato to get mixed up with each other, the ball then fell for Romaric who took off the shot on his unfavourable right foot and evidently shot wide. Minutes later it was Adriano again giving the ball off to Kanoute who touched it back to him, he took off the shot but shanked it over the net. Shortly after, Navas stole the ball at around the half way mark, dished it out to Konko on the right flank who didn’t waste time and put in a long range cross which Romaric got on the end of and forced Diego Lopez to make a tough save. It looked like we were going to go into the break stuck at 0-0 which was somewhat of an unfair scoreline really because we dominated the whole first half, Villareal didn’t even have a shot on goal. At the 45 minute mark though, Drago threw in one of his famous long throws and although the Villarreal back line did clear it, it only got as far as Adriano (yes, he was involved in almost every play) who headed the ball back towards the box, Kanoute then controlled poorly but luckily Renato was behind him to pick up the pieces and slot the ball slowly just out of the reach of Diego Lopez. There were shouts from the Villareal players for an offside on Renato, and to be honest I also thought we got away with one at first but looking at the replay a couple times i realized that it was the correct call. Although Renato’s body was ahead of Kanoute’s, Kanoute with his outstretched boot controlled it, and since his foot was ahead of Renato which means the ball was also ahead, Renato is therefore onside.

The second half started off the same way we ended the first one. Adriano (yet again) broke down the left wing, leaving Gonzalo in his tracks, sliding in a PERFECT ball for Kanoute who slipped backwards and possibly missed the easiest goal scoring chance in his career. It only took two minutes more for Adriano to repeat the exact same run except this time put in a high cross but the Villarreal keeper got finger tips to it, and hit it out towards the top of the box, only for Renato to control it, and hit a bullet but it was too close to Diego Lopez and he punches it up and out. The game took a huge turn when Villarreal’s lone striker Llorente got his second yellow card for a high boot on Julian Escude and Villarreal were now down to 10 men. All was not good for us though as Kanoute went off slightly limping with what appeared to be a groin strain, being replaced by O Fabuloso, Luis Fabiano. Adriano broke up the wing, like he had been doing all game, put in a cross for Fabiano to just not get enough on it, much to the displeasure of Navas. The pressure didn’t stop there though as Renato slotted in a perfect ball for Fabiano who hit it hard but right at Lopez, I was thinking though, if he was Messi, that was a perfect opportunity to chip the keeper. I can dream though… Next, it was Navas’ turn to put in the cross, which as usual was near perfect, but Adriano, like his fellow Brasilian Fabiano, had the power, but not the accuracy, and hit it straight at Lopez. There were shouts from the Sevilla players for a penalty as Fabiano was taken down in the box, but after seeing the replay, it is clear that the defender just about touched the ball first, Adriano though was there but could not slot the ball in because of some good Villarreal defending. Despite some late Villarreal pressure we were able to hold onto the one goal lead for the victory.

Problems
With one man up, there should be no excuses to why we couldn’t get another couple goals, especially considering the chances we created. It is really frustrating to see Fabiano and co. miss such easy opportunities and as we saw in our game against Barca, those missed opportunities really can come back to screw you over.

Other Sevilla News
Adriano has renewed his contract with us until 2014 and it is thought he is now making as much as Fabiano and Kanoute at 60,000 Euros a week. It is vital that we secured his signature for another 5 years as there was some strong speculation that he was going to move on last summer. As we saw on Sunday, he’s extremely talented and will only get better.

Yesterday we landed in Italy for our UEFA Cup match tonight against Sampdoria, it is a must win game as our future could depend on it. I will have a match report tonight following the fixture.