Sevilla 3 - Arsenal 1–What a day

By: Ryan | November 27th, 2007

After coming home on Saturday to see a Sevilla defeat at the hands of Mallorca, needless to say I was a bit down on our chances today. We were on a two game losing skid and going against an Arsenal side who have looked rather invincible in the Premiership as of late.

But what a game from Sevilla to pull out a 3-1 win against Arsenal. I’ll put up the video as soon as all of the highlights are put into one video, but what a dominating performance from the rojiblancos.

The first half, I didn’t see as I was on my way home from school. From my AS.com feed and my recaps of the games, Arsenal was on the defense all night, besides the goal from Da Silva. Keita struck back with an excellent left footer and Luis Fabiano came back with a header off a corner to put Sevilla up 2-1 before the break. Keita has been playing great lately, minus the game on Saturday where he was no where to be seen.

Sevilla continued to dominate Arsenal the entire second half and had several occasions to put the game away, but could not do so. Missed opportunities by Keita, Kanouté and Jesus Navas saw the game stay 2-1 and keep me on the edge of my seat the entire time. Arsenal are a crafty side that live to score in the last 10 minutes.

During the second half, a handball in the box was called by the referee, who then looked to award a penalty. After 2 minutes of arguing, the referee changed his mind and called for a drop ball outside of the box, which Sevilla refused to take. The crowd did not take too kindly to the ref’s actions, but I think it was the right call. If a referee makes a mistake and realizes it, it is better to reverse the decision instead of carrying on with it even though it is the wrong call.

The game seemed poised to end 2-1, when Kanouté was dragged down in the box pursuing a cross and awarded a penalty. He stepped up and calmly converted on the penalty, beating Almunia to the left hand side and shutting the door on the Gunners.

Arsenal played a terribly sloppy game today, constantly turning the ball over and never challenging for 50/50 balls. After seeing Sevilla go down 1 goal in the first 10 minutes, I was a bit worried but the combination of Sevilla’s play, and Arsenal’s lack their of, allowed us to fight back and take the victory and control of Group H.

I’ll update the game recap later, as I have my own soccer game that starts in 30 minutes. Cheers!