Sevilla claimed a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Valencia at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan on Friday night, with substitute Juan Iglesias grabbing the winner 81 minutes in to hand Javier Garcia Pimienta's side a crucial three points in their push up the La Liga table. The Andalusians were in complete control from the first whistle, monopolising possession and pinning Valencia deep inside their own half for long stretches. Ryunosuke Sato picked up a booking on 27 minutes for a cynical foul, and Chidera Ejuke came agonisingly close to breaking the deadlock before the interval, rattling the post with a curling effort after a jinking run past two defenders. Valencia, who have endured a miserable start to the campaign, offered virtually nothing going forward, managing just two shots on target across the entire 90 minutes. Ejuke was cautioned on 67 minutes, and Pablo Maffeo followed him into the book on 85 minutes for stopping a promising counter-attack. The decisive moment arrived on 81 minutes when Georgiy Kochorashvili burst down the left flank and delivered a low cross into the six-yard box, where Iglesias reacted quickest to stab the ball home from close range. The statistics make grim reading for the visitors: Sevilla registered 17 shots with 7 on target and 62% possession, while Valencia mustered only 6 attempts. Iglesias, who had been on the pitch for just 20 minutes, was named man of the match. With seven points from five games, Sevilla climb to ninth, while Valencia remain rooted in 19th with a solitary point. Can Sevilla build on this momentum when they host Getafe next weekend?
