Sevilla: Javi Varas; Cáceres, Fazio,
Alexis, Fernando Navarro; Medel, Zokora (Kanouté 46'); Jesús
Navas, Rakitic, Diego Capel (Perotti 71'); Negredo (Romaric 87'). 4-2-3-1.
Barcelona: Valdés; Dani Alves, Piqué,
Abidal, Adriano (Maxwell 74'); Xavi, Busquets, Iniesta; Pedro (Bojan 14'),
Messi, Villa (Keita 85'). 4-3-3.
Goals:
0-1. 30. Bojan. Ran ball in to net after Dani Alves
crossed in from right of area.
1-1. 49. Jesús Navas. Steered header
down past Valdés from Negredo's cross.
Yellow cards: Cáceres 24', Zokora 27', Adriano 39', Medel 61', Xavi 61', Navarro 62', Diego Capel 68'.
Barcelona's lead over Real Madrid at the top of the table has been reduced to five points after Guardiola's side were held to a 1-1 draw by Sevilla on Sunday evening. It was a thrilling match right from the start, with Messi getting the ball in the net from an early free kick only to see it ruled out for what the referee considered to be a foul by Busquets. A few minutes later Pedro limped off injured, but soon after Zokora had a penalty claim turned down, Pedro's replacement Bojan opened the scoring after Iniesta and Dani Alves combined to set him up. Messi headed against the bar and then brought a good save out of Javi Varas, and Villa put another chance over the top. But four minutes after the restart Navas headed the equaliser from Negredo's cross, and Negredo could have given the Andalusians the lead when he got past an indecisive defence only to shoot over the top. Cáceres did well to clear from Messi and Bojan thought he should have had a penalty, but Valdés was called upon to keep out Navas when free on goal. And in the dying minutes Kanouté went close a couple of times for the locals, and Iniesta fired a shot against the bar and then had another effort cleared off the line by Medel in reply. For only the fourth time this season Barcelona had dropped points, but in the end they won't be too unhappy to come away with a draw.