First Division - Day 18

Sevilla 3 - Betis 0

Sevilla: De Sanctis; Daniel Alves, Escudé, Mosquera, Dragutinovic; Jesús Navas, Poulsen (Martí 77'), Keita, Diego Capel (Chevantón 70'); Kanouté, Luis Fabiano (Adriano 64'). 4-4-2.
Betis: Ricardo; Melli, Juanito, Rivas (Toni 73'), Damià; Arzu, Rivera; Sobis (Somoza 46'), Edu, Mark González (Xisco 68'); José Marí. 4-2-3-1.

Team changes: Sevilla: Keita, Luis Fabiano for Maresca, Kerzhakov / Betis: Melli, Damià, Sobis, Mark González for Ilic, Fernando Vega, Somoza, Pavone.

Goals:
1-0. 25. Luis Fabiano. Got on end of Diego Capel cross to turn ball in with arm.
2-0. 42. Luis Fabiano. Steered header down past Ricardo from Alves cross.
3-0. 62. Alves. Free kick from outside area which took a deflection off Damià.

Probably the match of the weekend was the derby between Sevilla and Betis which the home side won 3-0. Memories of Antonio Puerta meant that the fixture was much friendlier than usual, with the usually hostile fans and even the club presidents, formerly sworn enemies, mixing in the ground.

But once on the pitch the locals were not dishing out any favours, even though this was "Three Kings Day". Betis were pushed back right from the start, and Kanouté fired a good chance wide before Luis Fabiano opened the scoring, albeit with his arm from Diego Capel's cross (referee Undiano Mallenco was the only man in the stadium who didn't see it).

Shortly before half time though Luis Fabiano did get a valid goal, steering a header wide of Ricardo from a Daniel Alves cross. And the pressure continued after the restart, Alves, Navas and Keita all going close before Alves made it three with a free kick which took a deflection off a defender.

The visitors had no reply, and Navas and Kanouté could both have increased the lead further late on. They had done enough though to wrap things up long before, and they move up the table to eighth, now just three points off the UEFA Cup spots. Betis though suffered their first defeat under Paco Chaparro, and they stay in the drop zone as a result.