September 17, (THEWILL) – Sergio Ramos made an emotional winning return to Sevilla on Sunday, playing his first match for his boyhood club since departing for Real Madrid in 2005.
The 37-year-old started in central defence as Sevilla earned their first La Liga victory of the season, beating Las Palmas 1-0 at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan stadium. Ramos, whose high-profile transfer to Madrid previously angered many Sevilla supporters, received a largely warm reception.
He repaid the warmth by producing a superb chest block to deny Las Palmas taking the lead and survived penalty appeals after tangling with their forward Sory Kaba. Their breakthrough came in the 71st minute when Belgian winger, Dodi Lukebakio, fired home the rebound after his initial shot was saved.
With Ramos marshalling the backline, Sevilla kept their first clean sheet this term following four defeats across all competitions. The victory lifts Sevilla to 17th in La Liga. Ramos will hope his commanding performance is the start of a successful second spell at the club where he began his illustrious career.
Sevilla will turn their attention to Europe as they welcome Ligue 1 side Lens to the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan stadium on Wednesday for their UEFA Champions League opener. It will be until Sunday before Las Palmas are in action again when they clash with Grenada at home in La Liga.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
