Portuguese striker Andre Silva scored the winner, helping Sevilla beat Real Valladolid 1-0 at home and take the top spot in La Liga.
The victory on Sunday helped Sevilla make history as it is the first time the club tops the Spanish league after the Matchday 13 duels, reports Efe news.
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Both teams played aggressively from the beginning of the match at Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium.
Sevilla had better positioning on the pitch and more players in the midfield trying to put pressure on the visitors.
Real Valladolid had better attacking plays; however, it could not reach keeper Tomas Vaclik’s net too many times.
Gradually, Sevilla started to have the upper hand on the pitch, thanks to its collective effort, which was culminated by Silva’s winner at the half-hour mark.
The Portuguese striker, who has been shining this season, got the home side on the scoreboard on a remarkable header from inside the area, off a cross from teammate Pablo Sarabia.
Valladolid showed no reaction to the host’s advantage, while its goalkeeper, Jordi Masip, had to make a couple of saves.
After the break, the visitors tried to respond to the 1-0 deficit.
Valladolid’s coach, Sergio Gonzalez Soriano, gave a break to his side’s offense, inserting Enes Unal, Daniele Verde and later Leonardo Suarez, a move that caused trouble for the hosts.
The visitors were faster and Turkey’s Unal scored for Valladolid off a corner kick. The goal, however, was annulled by the referee after consulting the VAR system, as one of his teammates was offside.
Sevilla got a wake-up call and regained control of the match, putting on pressure and taking it to Valladolid’s net again to secure the win.
Valladolid did not throw in the towel, but another goal by Unal was annulled due to an offside and Sevilla managed to get the three points.
With its eighth victory of the 2018-19 season, Sevilla is currently atop the La Liga standings with 26 points, with a one-point lead on defending champion Barcelona and a two-point advantage on third-place Atletico.
Valladolid, for its part, was handed its fourth defeat of the season, in addition to four wins and five draws, to provisionally hold 12th place, with 17 points.
