mbia's late leveller saves sevilla at rijeka published: thursday 2 october 2014, 21.00cet hnk rijeka 2-2 sevilla fc an added-time equaliser from substitute stéphane mbia denied the croatian hosts a famous win as ten-man sevilla snatched a point.
• stéphane mbia's added-time volley earns sevilla a share of the spoils • zoran kvržić's 68th-minute strike caps an impressive rijeka comeback • andrej kramarić converts penalty for 1-1; last man timothée kolodziejczak sent off • iago aspas shows neat footwork to open scoring • next games: rijeka v feyenoord, standard liège v sevilla
an added-time equaliser from substitute stéphane mbia denied hnk rijeka a famous comeback win as ten-man sevilla fc earned a 2-2 draw in group g.
the reigning champions began in authoritative fashion. an inspired josé antonio reyes saw his early looping header tipped over spectacularly by rijeka goalkeeper ivan vargić, who then needed to make a low save to deny grzegorz krychowiak, teed up neatly by reyes.
sevilla's breakthrough arrived on 26 minutes. the ball dropped at the feet of iago aspas after hestitant defending from a long throw, and the loanee from liverpool fc whisked the ball away from a challenger, onto his left foot, and drilled into the bottom-left corner from 12 metres out.
a half-time lead was almost doubled moments after the restart when vicente iborra lashed past the left post from an acute angle. instead, last man timothée kolodziejczak's clumsy challenge turned the tide. the french full-back was dismissed, and andrej kramarić tucked the penalty into the bottom-right corner for rijeka's first goal in group g.
rijeka exploited their numerical advantage, spreading play and stretching the sevilla defence. on 68 minutes, it was 2-1. kramarić raced onto a long ball, pulled back for zoran kvržić, and his low shot deflected up and over the helpless beto and into the net.
set for a famous win, rijeka were denied at the death. substitute stéphane mbia met benoît trémoulinas's left-wing cross with a neat instep volley into the bottom-right corner to break home fans' hearts.
