By Olaitan Ibrahim
Super Eagles forward Kelechi Iheanacho and Chidera Ejuke got their first minutes of competitive action for Sevilla in a 2-1 loss at home to Villarreal, according to a report.
Chidera played a lot of minutes in pre-season, but he could not make the starting eleven when Sevilla played Las Palmas last week. Also, Iheanacho was absent, as the club were still battling his La Liga registration.
However, Iheanacho made the bench on Friday night alongside compatriot Ejuke. Los Nervionenses got the worst start possible, as they fell behind just two minutes into the game, courtesy of a striker from Arnaut Danjuma.
Sevilla thought they had pulled one back after Juanlu Sanchez had the ball in the back of the net in the eighth. Unfortunately for them, it was ruled out for offside after a VAR review.
Nonetheless, they eventually got their goal in the stoppage-time of the first half, with Dodi Lukebakio scoring to make it 1-1.
Villarreal throught they had scored in the 69th minute, but Santi Comesana’s goal was chalked off for offside. Just after that, coach Pimienta introduced Ejuke into the game in a bid to switch things up in the attack.
Then in the 77th minute, Iheanacho was subbed on. Ejuke did his thing as usual, registering six dribbles. Iheanacho was also up and about, but he failed to give any meaningful contribution.
Unfortunately for Sevilla, Ayoze Perez scored for Villarreal in the fifth minute of stoppage-time to steal the 2-1 victory for Villarreal.
