La Liga: 10-man Sevilla held 1-1 by Barcelona, Kounde sent off

Sevilla was held 11 at home by Barcelona in a match the hosts finished with 10 men after defender Jules Kounde was sent off with a direct red card for throwing the ball into an opponents facePapu Goacutemez put Sevilla ahead in the 32nd minute as steady rain fell upon the Saacutenchez Pijuaacuten field Ronald Arauacutejo headed in Ousmane Dembeles corner kick to equalize for Barcelona just before halftimeThe match was deadlocked in the 64th when Kounde who last summer was rumored to be close to a move to Chelsea lost his cool After Barcelona defender Jordi Alba had twice bumped him in the back while disputing a ball going out of bounds Kounde grabbed the ball and slung it into his face from close range The referee did not hesitate to show him a red cardldquoIt was uphill after the sending offrdquo Goacutemez said ldquoI am sure Kounde is angry and disappointed When you make a mistake like that you feel horrible He will take a look at what he did and make sure it doesnt happen againrdquo Barcelona increased its control with an extra man and only the woodwork saved Sevilla when Dembele curled a shot off the far post with six minutes to playThe stumble left secondplace Sevilla five points behind leader Real Madrid which visits Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday in a match to be played without several players on both teams due to coronavirus infectionsBarcelona remained in seventh place two points from fourth and the Champions League spotsldquoThe team is competing it is improving so I leave feeling proud of my teamrdquo Barcelona coach Xavi Hernaacutendez said ldquoBut we are not happy with the result Today was a day to win and move into the Champions League zonerdquo As both defenses held the attacks in open play the goals came from wellexecuted corner kicksGoacutemez ditched his mark by curling from the far post back to the heart of the area where he used one touch to drive Ivan Rakitics pass through the crowded area and into the corner of the netGoacutemez an attacking midfielder also helped Karim Rekik keep Dembele in check on his repeated attempts to dribble free on the right flankDembele however turned passer to help get the equalizer seconds before halftime Arauacutejo outjumped Fernando to send Dembeles corner kick into the far corner with a slicing headerAfter Kounde was sent off striker Youssef EnNesyri went on as a substitute for Sevilla after having missed 10 matches with a muscle injuryXavi again placed his trust in Barcelonas youngest players With both Memphis Depay and Ansu Fati injured he started the match with Ferran Jutlgagrave as striker and finished it with 17yearold Gavi Paacuteez as a ldquofalse ninerdquo Gavi almost snatched a winner with a header that missed by inchesDOUBLE DOUBLE Gerard Moreno and Boulaye Dia both scored braces to lead Villarreal to a 52 win over AlaveacutesMorenos first goal to open the scoring culminated a superb team buildup Alaveacutes rallied to pull level at 22 from goals by Pere Pons and Joselu Mato but Dia Yeremy Pino and Moreno turned it into a routThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever