Sanchez off the bench, Sevilla out of the bottom three for now
Alexis Sanchez had been on the pitch for less than five minutes when he settled the night for Sevilla. Neal Maupay slipped him in, the Chilean took a touch and finished, and the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan finally had something to celebrate. Sevilla 1-0 Real Sociedad on Monday is the kind of result that does not change a season but does, for one week, change the conversation around it.
Sevilla came in 18th on 34 points, in the relegation places after losing 2-1 at Osasuna and dropping five of their previous six. Real Sociedad sat ninth on 43 points, comfortable but uninspired. The shape of the game reflected the table: nervy, scrappy, and short of clean chances for an hour.
Sanchez off the bench, Maupay's pass
The breakthrough arrived in the 50th minute. Maupay, paired with Isaac Romero up top, threaded a ball through that the Real Sociedad back line failed to track, and Sanchez was first to it. The finish was unfussy. The Chilean, now 37, has not started regularly in 2025-26 and has only ten starts to twelve substitute appearances in La Liga, but the manager's gamble at the break paid off in the time it took to score.
Real Sociedad pushed in the closing twenty minutes, and Odysseas Vlachodimos, the on-loan Newcastle keeper now installed as Sevilla's first-choice, did enough to keep them out. The 40,792 inside the Pizjuan held their breath, then exhaled, then started to believe.
A relegation breath, not a rescue
The win lifts Sevilla to 37 points and out of the bottom three, at least until other results filter through this week. Their next four take in Espanyol at home, Villarreal away, Real Madrid at home and Celta Vigo away. Every one of those opponents has something still to play for. One win does not buy a season, but it buys a week.
For Real Sociedad, this was the night their push for the European places got harder. Sitting ninth, they needed three points to keep the conversation going. They leave Andalusia with none and the conversation on hold.
A small win, on a long road
Seven Europa League titles in the trophy cabinet, and a Monday-night relegation scrap on the pitch. That is the contradiction Sevilla supporters have lived with all season, and one win does not resolve it. But Sanchez, of all people, scoring the goal that buys an extra week of optimism, is exactly the kind of story this club has trafficked in for years. They will take it.
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