Real Betis tied with Real Sporting de Gijon at Benito Villamarín Stadium. The match lacked pace for the first hour, until the away team took advantage in the score. However, just a minute after, Germán Pezzella scored his first goal as a Betis player to establish the final score. The men managed by Juan Merino tried eagerly in the last stage of the match but couldn’t avoid the draw.

The match began with both teams checking the rival out. The first chance was in the fifth minute. After an individual play on the left wing, Musonda was tackled just outside the box. The young Belgian kicked the set play with a ball to the far post, where Rubén Castro couldn’t connect a good header.

After this play, Sporting de Gijon started to attack and tried to get close to the opposite box. Nonetheless, the men managed by Abelardo weren’t creating clear chances. Halfway through the first period, Real Betis advanced its lines and claim ball possession. However, the team wasn’t bringing danger to the other end either.

Sporting kept a very neat and tidy defensive structure and started to try only in counterattacks. They had a good chance in a set play with a cross that curled towards the top left corner. Adán had to punch the ball in the last moment. The best chance for the Green-and-Whites in the first half came with a cross from Kadir. Van Wolfswinkel jumped between two defenders and let the ball loose for Rubén Castro, but Isma López cleared the ball into corner-kick in the last second. At half time, Real Betis was controlling the ball, but none of the teams was clearly in charge.

The second half started with a disallowed goal for Real Betis. The referee whistled for offside of Rubén Castro, who had given the assist for the strike of Van Wolfswinkel. After this chance, the match returned to the game pace seen during the first half. Many imprecisions from both teams and lack of plays. Real Betis tried to control the ball but was struggling to combine several passes in a row. In the 60^th minute, Musonda made a good individual play and gave a great pass between lines to Petros. The Brazilian shot wide.

The match changed its plot in the 65^th minute. Halilovic started a counterattack with a long pass to Carlos Castro. The striker controlled the ball, run towards the goal and lobbed the ball in front of Adán to give advantage to his team. However, Sporting was in the lead for just one minute. Vargas set a free-kick to the heart of the box, Pezzella was faster than his defender and connected a fantastic volley that went in beside the near post. In this way, the Argentinian scored his first goal wearing Real Betis jersey.

The goal gave Real Betis extra courage and the team went eagerly for the victory. Dani Ceballos came on and gave some fresh air to the team, that showed its best version of the match. 15 minutes before the end, Álvarez Izquierdo again disallowed a goal for Real Betis for offside of Rubñen Castro.

The striker had two chances in a row in the 83th minute. Firstly, with a lobbed ball that went over Cuéllar, but a defender cleared the ball over the goal line. Seconds later, number ‘24’ shot with strength after a great of Dani Ceballos, but the rival goalkeeper deflected the ball. The final minutes went by without many clear chances. The visiting team was more worried about wasting time than to score, and focused on not letting Real Betis win.

Real Betis Balompié: Adán, Montoya, Pezzella, Bruno, Vargas, N’Diaye, Petros (Ceballos 68), Kadir (Jorge Molina 78), Musonda, Van Wolfswinkel (Joaquín 52), Rubén Castro.
Goals: Pezzella 66.
Booked: Montoya 32, N’Diaye 86.

Real Sporting de Gijón: Cuéllar, Vranjes, Luis Hernández, Jorge Meré, Isma López, Sergio Álvarez, Rachid, Carmona (Lora 85), Halilovic, Álex Menéndez (Jony 68), Carlos Castro (Guerrero 80).
Goals: Carlos Castro 65.
Booked: Sergio Álvarez 36, Isma López 60.