Madrid (dpa) - Sevilla were held 0-0 at home by defiant Eibar on
Sunday, a result which kept them in fourth place in the Spanish Liga.
A win would have left Sevilla in joint third place with Atletico Madrid - who were due to host Villarreal later Sunday - but the Eibar deadlock left Unai Emery's team two points below Atletico.
Emery raised eyebrows by starting with Colombian striker Carlos Bacca on
the subs' bench, and the Sevilla attack lacked precision and penetration.
On the few occasions when the hosts managed to break through the solid Eibar defence, they were kept at bay by promising goalkeeper Xabier Irureta.
Eibar - who are in their first ever season in the top flight - were everyone's favourites for relegation back in summer, but are now sitting pretty in ninth place.
Earlier Sunday, Granada went back down towards the danger zone with a late 2-1 defeat at midtable Espanyol.
Ecuador striker Felipe Caicedo gave Espanyol the lead in the 34th minute after the Granada defence had failed to clear a centre from Lucas Vazquez, only for Youssef El Arabi to level for the visitors on the hour by turning in a clever near-post centre from Pit.
Granada's plan to hold out for a draw went up in smoke 10 minutes from time when left-back Juan Carlos was sent off. Super-sub Christian Stuani won the game for Espanyol in stoppage time by turning in another excellent cross from the promising Vazquez.
The win took Espanyol up to 11th and pulled Granada down to 16th, just two points above the relegation zone.
"To leave him without a point is very hard," Granada boss Joaquin Caparros said.
"We deserved a draw at the very least, I think. To concede a winning goal in injury time is horrible, just horrible."
Meanwhile, Espanyol hero Stuani said: "I was really keen to get onto the field, to help the team. I knew I was going to have one or two chances to score, with them reduced to 10 men."
Sunday's late game will bring together Basque rivals Real Sociedad and Athletic Bilbao.
A win would have left Sevilla in joint third place with Atletico Madrid - who were due to host Villarreal later Sunday - but the Eibar deadlock left Unai Emery's team two points below Atletico.
Emery raised eyebrows by starting with Colombian striker Carlos Bacca on
the subs' bench, and the Sevilla attack lacked precision and penetration.
On the few occasions when the hosts managed to break through the solid Eibar defence, they were kept at bay by promising goalkeeper Xabier Irureta.
Eibar - who are in their first ever season in the top flight - were everyone's favourites for relegation back in summer, but are now sitting pretty in ninth place.
Earlier Sunday, Granada went back down towards the danger zone with a late 2-1 defeat at midtable Espanyol.
Ecuador striker Felipe Caicedo gave Espanyol the lead in the 34th minute after the Granada defence had failed to clear a centre from Lucas Vazquez, only for Youssef El Arabi to level for the visitors on the hour by turning in a clever near-post centre from Pit.
Granada's plan to hold out for a draw went up in smoke 10 minutes from time when left-back Juan Carlos was sent off. Super-sub Christian Stuani won the game for Espanyol in stoppage time by turning in another excellent cross from the promising Vazquez.
The win took Espanyol up to 11th and pulled Granada down to 16th, just two points above the relegation zone.
"To leave him without a point is very hard," Granada boss Joaquin Caparros said.
"We deserved a draw at the very least, I think. To concede a winning goal in injury time is horrible, just horrible."
Meanwhile, Espanyol hero Stuani said: "I was really keen to get onto the field, to help the team. I knew I was going to have one or two chances to score, with them reduced to 10 men."
Sunday's late game will bring together Basque rivals Real Sociedad and Athletic Bilbao.
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