Sevilla 1-1 Athletic Bilbao: Jorge Sampaoli’s second spell in charge of hosts is spoiled by Mikel Vesga’s brilliant strike – but Argentine’s strugglers climb out of LaLiga drop zone with draw
- Jorge Sampaoli’s second debut as Sevilla boss after Julen Lopetegui was sacked
- Oliver Torres netted early on for Sevilla to give the new manager a boost
- Mikel Vesga fires in super equaliser with powerful drive from outside of the box
- Midfielder Ander Herrera was sent off in the closing moments for the visitors
Dressed in dark jeans and a black T-shirt that couldn’t contain his muscular, tattooed arms, Jorge Sampaoli feverishly paced the sideline at Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium as if he wanted to play.
But even though the Sevilla players seemingly fed off the intensity of their 62-year-old new coach and took an early lead, they ended up drawing with Athletic Bilbao 1-1 in Sampaoli’s first game in charge.
Sevilla fans were left on Saturday waiting for their first home win in any competition this season. Sevilla, which finished fourth last season to earn a Champions League berth, has only one win in 11 games overall and remained in 17th place in the Spanish league.
Jorge Sampaoli took charge of his first game of his second stint as Sevilla manager
Sampaoli, who coached Sevilla in 2016-17, took the team over on Thursday, a day after the firing of Julen Lopetegui.
“It was a tough game because they are playing very well and we had a lot of baggage,” Sampaoli said. “We suffered in the second half. We’ll have to see how we can keep up (the intensity) over the full match. We only had one day to practice. Today we saw positive things but others we must improve.”
Oliver Torres capped Sevilla’s initial push with a goal in the fourth minute. But Bilbao took charge after halftime and equalized when Mikel Vesga fired a poor clearance by Nemanja Gudelj in from outside the area in the 73rd.
Sevilla’s Oliver Torres netted in the fourth minute of the match against Athletic Bilbao
Bilbao’s Inaki Williams went close to a winner with a header over the bar in the 88th.
Bilbao finished with 10 men after Ander Herrera saw a direct red deep in stoppage time for fouling Erik Lamela with only Spain goalkeeper Unai Simon to beat.
Bilbao stayed in third place at two points behind Barcelona and Real Madrid as it continued to excel since the return of coach Ernesto Valverde for a third stint with the Basque club this summer.
Mikel Vesga fired in a brilliant equaliser in the second half with a low drive from distance
