Mauro Makes His Mark as Eight Goals Light Up Sevilla

There are draws, and then there are nights like this one at the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán, where the goals came so thick and fast that the scoreboard seemed to be spinning. Eight of them in all, and a point apiece for Sevilla and Leganés that will satisfy nobody and delight everyone who was there. In my day we called this a proper game of football, and I have seen a few in forty years at this paper, but few as open as this.

The story of the night, though, was Alessandro Mauro. The Italian, signed on a free in July, has taken his time to settle, but here he was everywhere: a goal, an assist, three key passes and five interceptions, and a distance covered of 14.7 kilometres that tells you everything about his appetite for the fight. He completed 65 of his 68 passes, and when Leganés needed a cool head in the middle of the storm, they found one.

Leganés will feel they should have won it. They had the better of the ball, 54 per cent of it, and more shots, 13 to Sevilla's 11, but they were pegged back time and again. Sergio Roca, the regular right-back pushed forward into an attacking role, scored twice before being replaced on the hour, and Juan Sáez added another.

Sevilla had their own heroes. José was magnificent, with an assist and five key passes, and Jecki Yehoshua scored one and made one. But the night ended sourly for the hosts when José Antonio, who had scored, was sent off deep into stoppage time.

Mauro was booked early, after seven minutes, and that might have unsettled a lesser man. It did not unsettle him. He grew into the game, and by the end he was the one dictating its rhythm. Leganés have found themselves a player. Whether they can hold on to him is another question entirely.