Sevilla take the honours with derby victory over Real Betis as La Liga returns to action after coronavirus lockdown

Winger Lucas Ocampos shows touch of class in front of empty stands at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium in Seville

Sevilla's Fernando celebrates scoring their second goal against Real Betis at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium on Thursday, June 12. Seville won the match 2-0 as La Liga returned to action for the first time since the coronavirus lockdown. Reuters

Real Betis players remonstrate with referee Antonio Lahoz after he awarded a penalty to Sevilla. Reuters

Sevilla's Lucas Ocampos opens the scoring from the penalty spot. Reuters

Real Betis' substitute players and technical staff sticking to social distance protocols in the stands. EPA

Sevilla forward Lucas Ocampos celebrates after scoring. EPA

Sevilla players celebrate after Ocampos' goal against Real Betis. EPA

Sevilla's Fernando scores their second goal. Reuters

Sevilla and Real Betis' players in action in front of empty stands at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium. EPA

Sevilla's Oliver Torres shields the ball from Cristian Tello of Real Betis. AP

Real Betis' Cristian Tello battles for the ball with Jules Kounde of Sevilla. Reuters

A stadium worker wearing a face mask sits in the empty stands. AFP

Real Betis' Alex Moreno shoots at goal. Reuters

Sevilla players celebrate after the match. AP

Players hold a minute of silence for coronavirus victims before the match. AFP

Sevilla players celebrate after the match. Reuters

La Liga finallly made its return to action after a three-month hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic as Sevilla beat city rivals Real Betis 2-0 on Thursday.

Julen Lopetegui's were grateful for the help help of a controversial penalty and a touch of class from Argentine winger Lucas Ocampos.

Ocampos struck the post in the first half before giving Sevilla a deserved lead from the spot in the 56th minute after Betis' Marc Bartra was harshly judged to have fouled Luuk de Jong.

Ocampos produced an outrageous backheel assist for midfielder Fernando to head home six minutes later to seal a win which consolidated Sevilla's push for a Champions League place.

They are third in the standings with 50 points after 28 games while Betis were left in 12th on 33.

Before the game, the video screens at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium played videos of Sevilla fans singing the club's anthem, a longstanding tradition when the supporters are in the stadium. The loudspeakers played team songs after the match as well.

After a minute's silence in memory of those who have died during the pandemic, La Liga returned with some new additions.

A round of applause was played in the 20th minute as part of the “applause to infinity” tribute that the league will promote in every game to honor those fighting the pandemic in Spain.

Sevilla dominated the derby in an empty and eerily quiet stadium which would usually be teeming with colour and noise for the occasion, but the red seats were left bare as fans were barred from attending for safety reasons.

Television broadcasts sought to re-create the experience of a normal match with fans by using simulated crowd noise and images, while Ocampos still saluted the stand behind the goal after breaking the deadlock from the penalty spot.

"I had never played a derby here before and even though the fans are not here I still wanted to honour them and make it feel like they were and show that we are working hard for them," the Argentine said.

Sevilla had been outplaying their neighbours before Bartra was penalised for his challenge on De Jong although the former Barcelona defender was still furious with the decision.

"The penalty was incredible, I was in a position to out-jump De Jong and he jumped into my arms, the Sevilla players weren't even expecting a penalty," Bartra said. "If football is a contact sport you cannot give a penalty for that."

Betis manager Rubi added: "The way we conceded the first goal was difficult to swallow but in general they were better than us."

The streets around the ground were mostly empty as barriers were placed around the stadium to keep fans from gathering. More than 600 police officers and private security agents were summoned to work during the match.