Sevilla 0-1 Athletic Bilbao: Inaki Williams strikes late to dent the home side’s title hopes

Julen Lopetegui-Sevilla

Sevilla crashed to a 1-0 defeat against Athletic Bilbao at home in the Spanish La Liga earlier tonight.

The defeat against the Basque club will come as a hammer blow to their title hopes, and it is safe to assume that the Andalusian outfit are now certainly out of the title race.

Sevilla are now six points adrift of league leaders Atletico Madrid and four points behind the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona.

They will need a major slice of luck to get back into the race and win the title eventually.

Meanwhile, the win tonight lifts Bilbao to 9th in the table.

Disappointing use of possession

Sevilla enjoyed 73% ball possession against Bilbao tonight, but they failed to create any significant chances throughout the game.

The home side played around aimlessly, and they lacked the guile and ingenuity in the final third.

Despite having the ball for most of the game, Sevilla managed just three shots on target across the 90 minutes.

The star of the show – Unai Simon

The Athletic Bilbao keeper produced a scintillating performance in between the sticks to deny Sevilla quite a few times, especially Youssef En-Nesyri twice before half time.

Sevilla were wasteful with their finishing, but their shots on target came up against a goalkeeper who was in inspired form tonight.

Controversial handball incident

Sevilla were furious when they were denied a penalty after Balenziaga’s hand blocked a cross from Jesus Navas.

The home side will feel robbed at a crucial juncture of the season.

The Williams brothers

Nico Williams almost won the game for Athletic Bilbao when he helped the ball over the line, but his goal was ruled out for offside.

His brother had better luck, and Inaki Williams won the game with a goal in the 90th minute.

The Bilbao star was the super-sub tonight, and he delivered the sucker punch on the counter.

Athletic Bilbao haven't been involved in a title race since 1984 but are having their say in this one. They've just practically ended Sevilla's hopes with a 1-0 win, eight days after denting Atletico's title bid by winni