Sevilla and Estoril Praia met in their Europa League Group H clash on Thursday night.
The home side were top of the group and a win would see them qualify for the next stage of the competition, while it was make or break time for the visitors as they needed a victory or results to go in their favour to keep their hopes alive.
However, neither side came away pleased as a late equaliser from Ruben Fernandes earned Estoril a point but their hopes of qualification were all but ended with the 1-1 draw.
Read our commentary to see how all the action unfolded.
Good evening and welcome to the live commentary of the Europa League clash between Sevilla and Estoril.
Sevilla need just a point to secure their qualification to the next round of the competition as they currently hold a five-point lead over third-place Freiburg, who play Slovan Liberec this evening. Even a defeat or a draw for the German side will put the Spaniards through.
Estoril are in dire need of a win in this game to keep their bleak hopes of staying in the competition. They have just two points from their opening four games and are all but done barring a miracle.
After their last outing in the Europa League when they drew 1-1 with Librec, Sevilla have won their last two La Liga games at a canter and are in excellent form, with a 3-1 win over Espanyol and a 4-0 against Real Betis on Sunday.
Estoril have also picked up back-to-back wins since their last game in Europe as they beat Famalicao in the Cup in extra time and they recorded a 2-0 win in the league over Rio Ave.
The teams have been announced and we'll start with the home side.
SEVILLA STARTING XI: Varas, Fazio, Cala, Moreno, Coke, Mbia, Cristoforo, Rakitic, Perotti, Reyes, Gameiro
ESTORIL STARTING XI: Vagner, Tavares, Mano, Goncalo, Ruben Fernandes, Babanco, Filipe, Evandro, Leal, Seba, Carlitos
Three changes for Sevilla from their last outing in the Europa League as Rakitic, Gameiro and Moreno come into the side replacing Fernando Navarro, Rusescu and Rabello.
The players are making their way out onto the field and we should be underway shortly.
We're underway in this Group H clash.
It takes just a minute for our first effort of the game but Seba for the visitors fires his shot well over the bar from just outside the penalty area.
Perotti raids forward down the middle of the field for the hosts and is brought down right on the edge of the area, in a very dangerous position. Rakitic stands over the ball despite Perotti scoring from a similar position against Liberec.
Rakitic fires at goal and his effort gets over the ball but it doesn't have enough power on it to beat Vagner in the Estoril goal who makes a comfortable save.
CHANCE! Perotti does well down the left and jinks onto his right foot to whip in a cross and his delivery is on the money for Cala but he can only head his effort over from six yards out. That was a great opportunity for the hosts to take the lead.
GOAL! Sevilla 1-0 Estoril (Gameiro)
Sevilla take the lead as Reyes slips a perfect through ball for Gamiero beyond the Estoril defence and the striker runs onto it and sprints into the area and dinks an effort over Vagner into the net. A lovely goal all round by the hosts.
The visitors look shell-shocked after the fast start by the hosts and now they have a lot of work to do to keep their hopes of qualification alive.
Slight pressure from Estoril as they win a free kick and Evandro takes but Cala gets up well in the area to clear the danger. From the next set piece the Evandro whips a ball in with pace but this time Moreno clears. Good defending from the home side.
There's no real flow to the game at the moment as Sevilla have sat back since their goal and are not really trying to force the issue to get a second. There is a lot of sloppy football being played at the moment.
Evandro has a crack at goal from distance for the visitors but his effort sails into the hands of Varas, who holds the ball with ease. Estoril will need to create better chances than that to get back into this one.
Perotti tries an effort from about 20 yards out but his shot goes over the bar after the home side's attacking move started to break down and he was forced to take action to try and keep it alive.
CHANCE! Reyes slips a ball through to Rakitic who shoots first time at goal from inside the box but Vagner makes an excellent save to keep his effort at bay and Tavares manages to hook the ball away. That was close, a great save by the keeper.
Sevilla surge forward in numbers again and Coke gets down the left and tries to tee up Gamiero but his effort is blocked by Fernandes but the ball comes back out to the defender on the left who tries a shot at goal himself but Vagner makes the save.
Estoril try to pressure the Sevilla goal as they win a free kick down the left but Evandro's delivery is well cleared as tried to hit the posse of players in the box. The delivery just hasn't been good enough from the visitors so far.
Reyes sprints down the left and manages to dig out a cross to Gamiero in the middle, who only has to make contact with the ball then it's a sure goal but the ball is just out of his reach and goes behind for a goal kick. That was close.
Coke gets the ball down the left again for the hosts and he raids forward into space as the visitors fail to close him down and he fires at goal but his shot goes past the post.
A lot of decent chances for Sevilla in the past few minutes but they are yet to put his game to bed as they should have done. That will keep Estoril more than interested as they become more desperate in the second half and will commit more bodies forward.
Again all the pace in the game has gone and we're experiencing a lot of sloppy football as neither side can really control possession and string a series of passes together. Far from a classic.
There a are a lot of clumsy fouls beginning to occur Cristoforo and Moreno give away free kicks to the home side in dangerous areas of the field but neither come to anything as the first delivery from Evandro is poor and on the second Tavares gives away a foul.
Sevilla's turn to threaten from set pieces as Rakitic is felled down the left but Reyes's free kick is cleared by Tavares, but they get a second chance to deliver as the former Arsenal man is also brought down, but this time Vagner does well to punch the ball clear from his delivery.
There will be one minute of added time.
CHANCE! Gamiero has a chance to double his side's lead going into the break but he can't find he target from close range from Reyes's cross into the area as he puts his headed wide of the target.
HALF-TIME: Sevilla 1-0 Estoril
Sevilla lead at the break in what has been a poor game so far. Gamiero got the crucial breakthrough in the seventh minute in one of the rare moments of quality in the first half as he and Reyes combined with a lovely through ball and finish.
Despite needing a win to stay in the competition Estoril have offered nothing going forward. Their quality in the final third of the pitch has been extremely poor and if they don't improve after the break they're heading out.
In the other Group F game this evening. Freiburg hold a 1-0 lead over Slovan Liberec, which could bring Estoril into contention to stay in the competition if they can turn this game around.
The players are back on the pitch and we should be underway shortly.
We're back underway in this Group F clash.
BOOKING! Moreno goes into the book for bringing down Seba on the edge of the area with a bodycheck that looked slightly innocuous. A great chance for the visitors to get back into the game.
Leal blasts the free kick straight into the wall and the ball comes out to Mano who lifts a cross to the back post, but Fazio manages to clear but only as far as Seba who blasts another effort, but is blocked and Reyes tries to clear but Seba hacks him down and gives away a free kick.
BOOKING! Seba was shown a yellow card for that challenge on Reyes as it was a nasty one and he got none of the ball.
Another free kick on Reyes at the start of the his second half as he tried to pull away from Carlitos but the midfielder stuck out a leg and brought him down. He's very lucky to avoid a booking there.
Leal raids forward for the visitors and gets to the edge of the area where he tries to crack an effort at goal but Fazio gets his body in the way and makes the block and the home side clear their lines.
BOOKING! More niggly fouls and the referee loses patience and Fazio goes into the book for a challenge on Evandro.
SUBSTITUTIONS: Iborra comes on to replace Mbia for the home side, meanwhile Galvao replaces Filipe for the visitors.
SAVE! The visitors force a save from Vares as Carlitos slips a through ball into the sub Galvao and he races towards goal and shoots from a tight angle inside the box but his effort is first blocked and then gathered on the second attempt by the keeper.
Babanco brings down Reyes in a dangerous position just outside the box but not in shooting range as it's at a tight angle down the left. The former Arsenal man stands over the ball as he prepares to deliver to a crowded penalty area.
Reyes's free kick travels to the back post where he finds the head of Fazio but the defender can only direct his header over bar. A chance wasted for the hosts.
CHANCE! Estoril win a corner and Evandro's delivery is cleared to the edge of the box but only as far as Goncalo who hits the ball first time on the volley and his effort looks goalbound but in the end just has too much on it and it goes over the bar.
More cheap free kicks for the visitors as Coke and Reyes are guilty of bringing down Carlitos and Babanco in the middle of the field. No bookings follow on this occasion though. This game has had no flow to it whatsoever and that's led to some poor football.
Estoril work the ball well down the right and as Mano slides a ball to Seba in the inside channel and he tries to pick out Leal in the box but his cross is poor and doesn't beat Fazio who heads the ball clear. Story of the game for the visitors, their final ball has been so poor.
CHANCE! Sevilla come close but some great instinctive keeping for Vagner stops them doubling their lead as Rakitic slid a through ball for Gameiro to chase and he it looked like he was going to lift the ball over the keeper but Vagner got there just in time to make the stop.
CHANCE! Babanco tries to slide a through ball to Balbao and his pass dissects the Sevilla defence and the striker nearly makes contact but Vares reads the pass and rushes out to make the grab at the feet of the attacker.
CHANCE! Vitolo goes close for the home side and that should be game over as Sevilla worked an opening down the left and the ball came to the midfielder in the area but he couldn't beat Vagner with a low effort at the keeper made a good save to deny him.
The game is slowly winding down and the visitors look all but done in this match as they know their hopes of qualification are slowly ebbing away. A lot of time wasting taking place by Sevilla as players are staying down with little knocks after challenges.
GOAL! Sevilla 1-1 Estoril (Fernandes)
Estoril get an equaliser and their hopes of qualification are suddenly rekindled as Balboa gets the ball on the edge of the box and slides a through ball to Fernandes, who manages to stay onside and lifts an effort over Vares into the net.
There will be four minutes of added time.
Estoril throw caution to winds and launch everyone forward trying to get back into the game but Vares gathers the ball and the game is over for them and as a result their qualification hopes.
FULL-TIME: Sevilla 1-1 Estoril
So Estoril get a late equaliser but they all but crash out of the competition while Sevilla could have wrapped up the group with a win but now have to go into the last round of matches needing point to firmly secure their qualification.
It was far from a classic but the home side will be kicking themselves as the visitors didn't put them under a great deal of pressure but were undone late on by Balboa's through ball to Fernandes who finished nicely in the 90th minute.
It will take a massive turnaround for Freiburg to qualify over Sevilla and Liberec, who the German side defeated this evening. But a draw between Sevilla and the Freiburg and a defeat for Liberec at the hands of Estoril could see both sides go through. So there's still a lot to play for in this group.
Thanks for joining our coverage this evening. Be sure to check out the rest of our commentaries of the Europa League as the night continues or join our coverage of the Thanksgiving Day NFL games. But from me, it's goodbye for now.
Written by
Simon Sinclair
Simon Sinclair
