Visibly nervous early on, Sevilla were fortunate not to fall behind in the fledgling minutes when Odysseas Vlachodimos got caught in no man’s land.
That allowed Inigo Ruiz de Galarreta to take aim at an open goal from distance, but fortunately for the Sevilla goalkeeper, he curled his shot just wide of the far post.
That miss kept him without a goal since November 2023, and he was nearly made to rue it when Aitor Paredes inadvertently diverted the ball into his own net, only for the goal to be ruled out for a foul against Nemanja Gudelj.
As it proved, Robert Navarro – no doubt buoyed by his winner in Wednesday’s UEFA Champions League clash against Atalanta – was the man to break the deadlock, prodding the ball across the line after Vlachodimos made a desperate stop from Urko Izeta’s scooped effort.
But Sevilla showed great character to respond within two minutes through Peque, who swept a composed finish into the bottom corner after being teed up by Juanlu Sánchez, leaving everything to play for at the interval.
After netting twice in Monday’s comeback draw with Elche, Akor Adams took responsibility when Sevilla were awarded a penalty in the opening stages of the second period for a handball infringement against left-back Yuri Berchiche.
The Nigeria international calmly rolled home his sixth LaLiga goal of the season as Unai Simon guessed the wrong way, forcing Ernesto Valverde into a swift double change, including the introduction of star attacker Nico Williams.
However, Williams and his Athletic teammates rarely looked like finding a late leveller, as they tamely fell to a loss that leaves them without a win in five league games.
Following this vital win, Matias Almeyda’s charges have moved up to 11th and level on points with the visitors, who have to quickly pick themselves up ahead of a massive European tie with Sporting CP in midweek.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Akor Adams (Sevilla)