Sevilla’s home struggles continue in draw with Valladolid

Sevilla trail third-placed Atletico Madrid, who have one game in hand, by one point, and lead fifth-placed Getafe, who host Real Sociedad on Monday, by five.

Sevilla missed out on an opportunity to move up to third in La Liga when they were held to a fourth consecutive draw in a 1-1 stalemate against visiting Real Valladolid on Friday.

A late Lucas Ocampos penalty for the hosts cancelled out Kiko Olivas’s first-half opener as Sevilla, who have 54 points from 32 games, continued to struggle at home with a seventh draw at the Pizjuan, where they have won only seven matches this season.

They trail third-placed Atletico Madrid, who have one game in hand, by one point, and lead fifth-placed Getafe, who host Real Sociedad on Monday, by five.

Sevilla came close to seeing their early domination rewarded in the 21st minute, but Ocampos’s fierce strike crashed onto the crossbar.

Valladolid soaked up the pressure and Olivas opened the scoring with a looping header into the top corner from Michel Herrero’s long-distance free kick in the 25th minute.

Sevilla upped the pace after the break and El Haddadi headed home from Jesus Navas’s perfect cross on 55 minutes, only for the goal to be ruled out for offside following a VAR review.

The equaliser came in the 83rd minute when Ocampos scored his 12th La Liga goal this season, converting a spot-kick following a Javier Sanchez handball.

Valladolid are 14th on 35 points.