Sevilla coach rates Ejuke highly after La Liga debut, points out Iheanacho missed a chance to score winner  

Sevilla coach Francisco Javier García Pimienta was on media duties shortly after his side's painful 2-1 loss to Villarreal on matchday two in La Liga on Friday night.

Pimienta handed debuts to two of his summer signings who joined on free transfers, with Chidera Ejuke entering the game as a substitute in the 71st minute and Kelechi Iheanacho subbing in six minutes later.

In an enjoyable game at the Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán, Villarreal scored early and late to secure all three points, sandwiched in between an equalizer by the home team. 

Lagos-born forward Arnaut Danjuma opened the scoring for the Yellow Submarine inside two minutes but Dodi Lukebakio drew Sevilla level, before 2024 European champion Ayoze Perez grabbed the winning goal in the fifth minute of stoppage time.

After Sevilla's equalizer in the sixth minute of first half stoppage time, it looked like the Andalusian club were going to win the game  as they hit the bar through Saúl in the 64th minute and Iheanacho had a point blank range effort saved two minutes into second half stoppage time. 

Despite Sevilla's loss, Ejuke was impressive, thrilling the spectators with his dribbling skills and speed. 

The winger created numerous problems on Villarreal's right side and delivered several threatening crosses into the box.

On his official debut for Sevilla, Ejuke registered a game-high six take-ons, twice more than the entire Villarreal team. 

Pimienta praised Ejuke for his performance but urged him to be consistent, and also noted that Iheanacho missed a clear cut chance to score the winning goal, before that late sucker punch from Perez.

Assessing the performance of Ejuke, he was quoted as saying by Futbol Fantasy"Well, we wanted to give him a bit of fresh air and I think he's done very well, creating dangerous one-on-one situations.

"He has unbalanced plays, he can go outside and inside. He has to be much more consistent and finish the play, but he's a player we take into account and we've seen that he's done very well."

On Iheanacho, Pimienta stated: "Perhaps he was the one who had the most problems because he played less time, but he moved very well in that difficult moment of the match and he had a very clear chance to score and the goalkeeper was able to stop that play."

Sevilla will be back in action on Tuesday with a tough trip to Mallorca before returning home next weekend to welcome Girona. 

Ifeanyi Emmanuel 

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