Sevilla ended their three-game winless run in La Liga with a comfortable 2-0 victory over Osasuna at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan on Monday night, as Youssouf Fofana created both goals — for Isaac Romero in the 24th minute and Felix Correia eight minutes from time — to keep Luis Garcia Plaza's side sixth in the table.
Fofana unlocks it early
Osasuna arrived with Jagoba Arrasate looking for a second win in two games since starting his second spell in charge, following a 2-0 victory over Racing Santander, and the visitors should have led inside four minutes when the unmarked Flavien Boyomo headed off target from a corner. Correia skewed a volley wide at the other end three minutes later, and Ante Budimir spurned a similar opening, before the game found its quality.
The opener on 24 minutes was a move of real class. As Flashscore reported, Fofana flicked Correia's pass into Romero's path and the forward arrowed his third goal of the season beyond Aitor Fernandez. The strike moved Romero to the top of Sevilla's scoring charts — a telling detail for a side whose 15 league goals to that point had come from 12 different players. Castrin blazed over from 12 yards and Chidera Ejuke drew a sprawling low save from Fernandez as Sevilla took control, and the half-time whistle came at a bad time for the hosts.
Correia settles it late
The second half began scrappily, punctuated by fouls to the growing frustration of the home support, but Sevilla threatened again midway through the period: Fernandez pushed a long-range Fofana free-kick behind for a corner and Juan Iglesias volleyed against the post moments later. The numbers told the story of home pressure without total control — Sevilla had 17 shots to Osasuna's 10 and seven on target to two, despite holding only 44.7 per cent of possession, with the full timeline recorded by AllFootball.
Fernandez made a brilliant save to keep out a Kike Salas header as full time approached, but the points were made safe on 82 minutes when Correia's deflected shot beat him for the winger's second goal of the season — Fofana again the provider, leading the counter and teeing up the finish. It was a miserable familiar feeling for Osasuna at this ground: they have now won just once in their last 18 visits to the Sanchez-Pizjuan, drawing three and losing 14.
So what does it mean?
Sixth-placed Sevilla move within two points of Real Sociedad in fifth and extend their winning streak in home games against teams outside La Liga's big three to five matches — exactly the kind of run that decides the European places in a weekend that began with Real Madrid winning El Clasico at Camp Nou. Osasuna, by contrast, remain 12th and have won just one of their last 12 away games, and Arrasate's bright start to his second spell has hit its first wall. Sevilla's spread of scorers — 12 players sharing the goals — will be tested over a heavier stretch of fixtures, a theme running through our latest Around Europe roundup of the continental weekend.
Beyond the Final Whistle: This was Fofana's night. Two assists, a man-of-the-match display and a hand in almost everything Sevilla did well — when a midfielder decides a game this completely without scoring, the scoreline flatters the rest. Sevilla still lack a single ruthless finisher, but a team that shares its goals this widely, and defends its own ground this stubbornly, is built to stay in the European race long after flashier sides fade. Can Sevilla turn sixth into a Champions League push, or is the Europa League their ceiling this season?
