The Super Eagles striker had his heart broken in stoppage time as Sevilla were held 2-2 by Real Betis in a pulsating Seville derby. Akor Adams is five games without a goal, but his teammates insist the drought won’t last long.
So Close, So Cruel
Akor Adams will have seen the opportunity before it arrived. The kind of chance a striker instinctively recognises. Late in the match, his team needed a winner, the ball arriving in exactly the right area. What happened next is the part nobody wants to replay.
The Super Eagles forward missed a stoppage-time opportunity that would have given Sevilla all three points in Sunday night’s Seville derby at La Cartuja Stadium. Real Betis held on. The match ended 2-2. And Adams walked off the pitch knowing exactly what it cost.
Five games without a goal. His last La Liga strike came in Sevilla’s 2-1 win over Athletic Bilbao in January. Since then: Mallorca, Girona, Deportivo Alavés, Getafe, and now Real Betis. No goals from any of them.
The Derby Itself
Sevilla arrived at La Cartuja in familiar circumstances: a team with genuine quality, inconsistent results, and the pressure of a city rivalry that demands nothing less than three points.
Real Betis made their intentions clear early. They built a two-goal lead that had Sevilla fans in the stadium genuinely worried. But Sevilla showed character in the second half. Isaac Romero pulled one back, and the momentum shifted. The equaliser came, and suddenly Sevilla were pushing for a winner that would have been deserved.
Adams was central to that push. Throughout the match, he covered ground relentlessly, held the ball up under pressure, and created space for teammates. The work rate was there. The goal, that one final moment, wasn’t.
The Drought in Context
Five games without a goal sounds alarming until you look at the full picture. Adams has six goals and three assists in 21 La Liga appearances this season. That’s a return that most clubs in mid-table La Liga would sign for from a striker in his mid-twenties establishing himself in Spain’s top flight.
The goalscoring drought is real. But it’s worth asking what’s actually behind it. Sevilla’s overall form has been patchy, their build-up play inconsistent, and Adams has been asked to work as much defensively as offensively in recent matches. A striker can’t score if his team isn’t creating.
The Seville derby, for all its pain, showed Adams in a positive light in terms of effort. His teammates saw it. Two of them went public afterwards to say so, which tells you something about his standing in that dressing room.
What This Means for the Super Eagles
Adams’ La Liga season has been one of Nigeria’s more encouraging international stories of 2025/26. Six goals in 21 appearances at the La Liga level at his age and stage of career represent real progression. The five-game drought is a blip, not a trend, but it will catch the attention of coach Eric Chelle as he prepares the March squad.
With Victor Osimhen nailed on as the senior striking option and questions around backup centre-forwards, Adams’ form directly impacts whether Chelle can field a genuinely threatening attacking unit when Osimhen needs rest. A run of goals in the next few weeks would settle that debate quickly.
The Seville derby is also the kind of fixture resume that builds a career. Whether he scored or not, playing in a high-stakes local derby at a club of Sevilla’s stature adds substance to his professional profile. European scouts and Nigeria’s technical staff are watching.
What Comes Next
Sevilla face Rayo Vallecano next in La Liga. It’s not a glamour fixture, but it’s precisely the kind of match where a striker shakes off a drought. Rayo’s defensive record this season offers opportunities, and Adams will be desperate to convert them.
The Seville derby chapter closed with a draw that felt like a loss for Adams personally. But the season is long, his teammates believe in him, and his overall numbers still stack up. The goal will come. His teammates are betting on it. They said so, on camera, after the most high-profile game of his season so far.
That’s nothing. For Nigerian football fans building their weekend accumulators around La Liga fixtures, Bet9ja’s 170% accumulator boost is particularly well-suited for multi-match Spanish football wagers when chasing a comeback story like Adams’.
📌 Did You Know?
- César Azpilicueta, who praised Adams after the derby, is one of the most decorated defenders of his generation, winning the Premier League, FA Cup, UEFA Champions League, and UEFA Europa League with Chelsea before moving to Sevilla.
- The Seville derby (known in Spain as the Derbi Sevillano) is one of the oldest local rivalries in European football, dating back to 1915. It consistently ranks among La Liga’s most-watched fixtures.
- Adams’ six La Liga goals this season put him in the upper tier of Nigerian strikers performing in Europe’s top five leagues in 2025/26, alongside Victor Osimhen’s contributions in the Turkish Super Lig and UCL.
- La Cartuja Stadium, where Sunday’s derby was played, has hosted several major tournaments, including UEFA Euro 2020 fixtures and Copa del Rey finals. Sevilla uses it as an overflow venue for high-demand games.
- Akor Adams joined Sevilla from Belgian club OH Leuven, making him one of a growing number of Nigerian players who used Belgium’s Pro League as a launch pad into a major European league.
- Sevilla has a long history of fielding Nigerian players. Former Super Eagles strikers have represented the club over the years, and Adams continues that connection between Sevilla and Nigerian talent.
- Adams’ next La Liga fixture, against Rayo Vallecano, is significant: Rayo have conceded more goals at home than any team in the bottom half of La Liga this season, giving Adams a realistic opportunity to end the drought.
