AGENCIES
BARCELONA
Sevilla followed last week's recovery against La Liga leaders Real Madrid by staging another stirring comeback to win 4-3 at Osasuna on Sunday, a victory that keeps the pressure on Zinedine Zidane's side.
Yet Atletico Madrid faltered again near the top of the table despite a brilliant strike from Antoine Griezmann earning them a 2-2 draw at Athletic Bilbao. Late goals from Franco Vazquez and Pablo Sarabia secured the points for Sevilla after their captain Vicente Iborra had scored for both sides in an action-packed clash between teams from opposite ends of the table.
Jorge Sampaoli's side, now a point off the pace but having played a game more, have enjoyed consistent results at home but their poor away form looked set to haunt them again when Sergio Leon put bottom side Osasuna ahead in the 15th minute. Iborra pulled Sevilla level two minutes before halftime by following up Stevan Jovetic's cross to score after he had thumped the post, but shot his side in the foot in the 63rd by diverting an Osasuna cross into his own net. He made amends two minutes later by knocking the ball into the opposition net on the rebound to equalise again with Osasuna claiming it should have been ruled out for offside.
Vazquez gave Sevilla the lead for the first time by heading in from a corner after 80 minutes, sparking more furious protests from Osasuna who claimed he had shoved an opponent before the cross came in. Substitute Sarabia sealed a fifth straight league win by scoring a fourth Sevilla goal from the edge of the area in the 91st minute to put his side on 42 points from 19 games, their biggest ever total for the first half of a season. Kenan Kodro then scored a consolation goal for the hosts in the 92nd minute.
In Bilbao, a three-game winning streak in the league for Atletico Madrid came to an end despite Diego Simeone's side getting off to a dream start. Koke's cross, which was intended for Griezmann, went straight into the net in the third minute but the home side got over the shock, drawing level in the 43rd with a thumping strike from Inigo Lekue.
Oscar de Marcos headed Athletic in front in the 56th minute, threatening to end Simeone's perfect record of four wins from four in the Basque club's new stadium, which opened in 2013. Griezmann had other ideas, however. He produced a classy chipped finish from a tight angle after straying an inch offside but after the goal was ruled out, he retained his focus to deliver a low finish off the far post with 10 minutes remaining. Atletico remain fourth in the standings on 35 points while Athletic are seventh on 29, two points behind Villarreal in sixth.
