Sevilla edges Valencia as Juan Iglesias breaks the deadlock in the 80th minute

The post, the crossbar and sheer persistence finally paid off for Sevilla. At the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, the home side ground out a 1-0 win over Valencia thanks to a Juan Iglesias header in the 80th minute, capping an hour and a half of relentless pressure that had repeatedly been denied by the woodwork and by Stole Dimitrievski.

The result puts Sevilla in third place in LaLiga with 10 points, while Valencia remains stuck near the bottom of the table in 20th place with just one point. The two sides are now separated by 9 points in the standings.

A dominant first half without reward

From the opening whistle, Sevilla controlled the ball and the chances, though the breakthrough proved elusive. Kike Salas tested the keeper with a header in the 42nd minute that flew wide, and Isaac Romero came close with a shot that grazed the crossbar in first-half stoppage time, in the 46th minute. Valencia, for its part, barely threatened: a long-range effort from Arnau Martinez in the 12th minute was about as much as the visitors managed going forward. The first half ended scoreless at 0-0, with Sevilla racking up chances it simply could not convert.

Woodwork warnings before the winner

The second half brought more of the same. In the 49th minute, Kike Salas again went up for a header, this time straight into the goalkeeper's hands. A minute later, in the 50th minute, Lucas Stassin also headed goalward and struck the right post, in a moment that summed up the home side's frustration. Sevilla's dominance continued with efforts from Youssouf Fofana and Lucien Agoume that failed to find the target, and Valencia's David Otorbi rattled the crossbar with a shot of his own in the 77th minute.

The breakthrough finally arrived in the 80th minute: from a free kick played into the box, Giorgi Kochorashvili delivered the cross and Juan Iglesias rose in the middle of the area to head home the decisive 1-0. It was the only goal on a night when Sevilla created far more than it converted.

The numbers back up the dominance

The stats confirm what was clear on the field: Sevilla was clearly superior in creating danger, even though Valencia edged the possession battle.

That gap of 13 shots to 3 also shows up in the post-match expected goals figures: Sevilla generated 1.237 xG compared to just 0.12 for Valencia, a gulf that makes clear the scoreline could have been far more lopsided in the home side's favor had the woodwork not gotten in the way so often.

Before kickoff, our projection gave Sevilla a 41% chance of victory, with a 30% chance of a draw and 29% for a Valencia win, with combined expected goals of 2.6. The final outcome, a tight 1-0 scoreline, fell well short of that offensive expectation, though the result itself, a home win, was indeed the most likely outcome according to that forecast.

What the match leaves behind

Beyond the result, the match had its share of physical drama: there were several injury stoppages, including one for Valencia's Cesar Tarrega, which forced an early substitution in the 23rd minute. Yellow cards were also shown to Ryunosuke Sato, Chidera Ejuke and Pablo Maffeo, in a match that saw Valencia commit 12 fouls to Sevilla's 8. For the home side, the win confirms a strong start to the season; for Valencia, the loss deepens a difficult spot in the standings, where the club still cannot find its footing.