Sevilla 4 : 0 Granada CF - Sevilla romp to victory

Posted Monday, April 21, 2014 by PA

Sevilla warmed up for their Europa League semi-final against Valencia next week with an emphatic 4-0 win over Andalusian rivals Granada.

The visitors made a bright start to the game but went behind within a quarter of an hour due to an unfortunate own goal by Diego Mainz.

Lucas Alcaraz' side survived the rest of the first half but succumbed to the hosts after the break, with Kevin Gameiro, Stephane M'Bia and Vitolo all scoring in the space of 17 minutes.

The win sees Sevilla keep the pressure on Athletic Bilbao in fourth spot, and knocks Granada back down to earth after the euphoria of their surprise win over Barcelona the previous week.

Fortunately for Alcaraz's side, their rivals to avoid the drop also endured a tough weekend, and they stay 14th in the Primera Division table.

Granada midfielder Recio tried to give his side an early lead from a free-kick, but his powerful shot was too close to goalkeeper Beto.

Unai Emery's side responded with an attack that lead to the opening goal.

Gameiro accelerated down the right after a through ball by Marko Marin and tried to pick out a team-mate on the other side of the box, but Mainz did the job for him, sticking out a foot and inadvertently sending the ball into his own net.

Recio had another shot that fizzed wide just after the goal, while at the other end Gameiro was denied a goal of his own by a deflection, which forced a corner.

The Frenchman would get on the score-sheet soon enough, although he was aided by another defensive slip by Granada.

Tiago Ilori tried to cut out another fine pass by Marin but sent the ball beyond his goalkeeper Orestis Karnesis and towards the goalline. However, Gameiro was determined to fatten his goalscoring tally and sprinted after the ball, sliding to the floor and helping it into the net just as it was about to cross the line, netting his sixth goal in four games, his 15th of the season.

Karnesis did well to prevent Marin from getting the third, but a minute later was powerless as M'Bia arrived at the back post to nudge home a cross from Gameiro, who had been played in by another fantastic pass by Marin.

And the Greek goalkeeper was picking the ball out of his net for a fourth time 10 minutes later, Vitolo finishing at the near post to take advantage of some comic defending from Granada, who had been so solid at the back against Barcelona the previous week.