Akor Adams scores late to spark Sevilla's crucial turnaround against Espanyol

A ten-minute hold-up from a VAR issue before the game began just let the charged atmosphere in the stadium intensify further. The action that followed was full of suspense, with Espanyol's Edu Exposito getting the clearest opening in the opening period on the 25th minute, managing to create room in the penalty area for a shot at Odysseas Vlachodimos, who dived left to push it clear.

Similar to their victory against Sociedad on Monday, bringing on Alexis Sanchez at the break appeared to be a smart move for the hosts. It nearly paid off right after the interval began.

A build-up of passes and stopped attempts near the Espanyol goal led to Jose Angel Carmona's strike turning into a setup for Ruben Vargas, whose own shot got blocked and rolled towards Sanchez for an easy finish while alone. Yet the experienced Chilean was ruled offside, quickly muting the Sevilla supporters.

For Sevilla in their current spot, such moments often lead to trouble, and sure enough, a painful counter hit them on the 56th minute.

Tyrhys Dolan had started to influence the game more in the initial stages of the second half, and he helped set up his own strike, sending the ball wide right where Roberto Fernandez hooked it back into the box just in time before it went out.

Andres Castrin completely misread the path of the incoming ball, letting Dolan control it and rifle it low into the bottom-left corner.

The expected desperate push from the Sevilla sideline brought in three changes shortly after Espanyol took the lead. Castrin could not make up for his error right away, nodding over from a long cross into the area by Sanchez.

But he managed it later in the 82nd minute, surging forward on the right out of nothing and weaving into the penalty area, then placing a low shot under Dmitrovic, who ought to have stopped it comfortably.

This ignited Sevilla to ramp up the assault, and they sealed the reversal as seven minutes of stoppage time started, with Akor Adams exploiting a fatigued Espanyol backline and blasting a powerful curved effort from afar into the bottom-right corner.

Espanyol had nothing left to offer in reply, leaving Sevilla in 12th place ahead of three tough final fixtures, holding a three-point buffer above the relegation places. Espanyol's downfall drops them potentially to fourth from the bottom by next weekend, only two points from the threat in the ongoing fierce LaLiga survival battle.