Yassine Bounou was Sevilla’s hero as his last-gasp strike cancelled out Fabian Orellana’s goal in a thrilling 1-1 draw against Real Valladolid at Jose Zorrilla on Saturday.
Los Nervionenses had managed just three shots on target and trailed to the Chilean winger’s first-half penalty, but the Morocco international goalkeeper levelled matters with the last kick of the game.
With his effort, the 29-year-old has now scored his maiden goal for club and country. He also became the first goalkeeper ever to score for Sevilla in a Spanish topflight fixture.
Unbeaten in their last three matches in all competitions, Sergio Gonzalez’s men came into the encounter in dire need of a win against the title-chasing visitors.
Nonetheless, Sevilla - who came prepared probed a couple of times early on but red-hot Youssef En-Nesyri was caged from wreaking havoc.
Two minutes before the half-time break, hosts Valladolid were awarded a penalty after VAR confirmed that goal-bound Shon Weissman was fouled by Karim Rekik and Ivan Rakitic in the box.
Orellana stepped up to take the resultant kick by sending Bounou the wrong way to give his side a slim lead heading into the halftime break.
In dire need of an away victory, Sevilla made a couple of substitutions in the second-half, yet, they were unable to break down the dogged hosts.
Substitute Luuk de Jong came close to equalising for Julen Lopetegui’s side, albeit, his effort kissed the woodwork.
When it appeared like the visitors would return home empty-handed, Bounou came to the rescue. The Moroccan connected to Jules Kounde pass before firing a superb side-footed strike beyond Roberto Jimenez.
However, he was cautioned for taking off his shirt while he wheeled away in celebration as his teammates swamped around him to celebrate the equaliser.
Alongside Bounou, En-Nesyri was in action from start to finish for Sevilla, while their compatriot Munir El Haddadi was an unused substitute.
For Real Valladolid, Morocco’s Jawad El Yamiq was not listed for action due to fitness issues. With 55 points from 28 outings, Sevilla occupy the fourth spot in LaLiga log, while Valladolid are 16th with 27 points from the same number of games played so far.
