Sevilla vs Alaves Ends 0-0 as Sivera Saves Vargas Penalty

Sevilla were held to a 0-0 draw by Alaves at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan on Friday night, in a La Liga matchday 12 game the home side controlled but could not finish. The result hinged on one moment: Alaves goalkeeper Antonio Sivera saved a Ruben Vargas penalty in the 32nd minute, and Sevilla never found another way through.

The match was played on Friday, November 6, and it carried an emotional weight beyond the football. Before kickoff the stadium held a minute of silence for Jesus de Miguel, the 30-year-old Tenerife striker who died after a collision in a match on Monday, November 2. In the ninth minute the referee stopped play and the crowd and both sets of players applauded his memory, a tribute repeated at grounds across Spain this weekend.

The penalty that decided the night

Sevilla pushed from the start and got their clearest chance from the spot. Angel Perez was judged to have fouled Felix Correia, and Vargas stepped up in the 32nd minute. Sivera read the kick and saved it, keeping the game level at the break and silencing the home crowd.

Sivera was busy again in the second half, and he needed help once: defender Pablo Ibanez got back to hook a goal-bound effort from Juan Iglesias off the line. Sevilla kept the pressure on until the end, with the match data showing 60.1 percent of the ball and 13 shots, three of them on target, against nine shots and two on target for the visitors. None of it produced a goal.

A point each, and different feelings

For Sevilla, sixth in the table with 18 points from 12 games, this was a chance missed. They had the ball, the territory and a penalty, and they took one point from a home game they expected to win.

For Alaves, the draw was the reward for a disciplined away performance and a goalkeeper in form. The point takes them to 13 points from 12 games and ninth place, ahead of clubs with bigger budgets, and it was earned the hard way: a penalty save, a goal-line clearance and 90 minutes of defending under pressure.

Search interest in this fixture ran high in Nepal as well as Spain this week, with the Sevilla vs Alaves matchup sitting in Nepal's top ten Google searches on Saturday morning. The football gave those searchers no goals, but it gave them a story: a saved penalty, a tribute in the ninth minute, and a favourite held at home.