Soccer-Sevilla held at Sporting and miss chance to go top

By Richard Martin

BARCELONA, Oct 29 ( Reuters) - Sevilla were again let down by their dismal away form as they were held to a 1-1 draw at struggling Sporting Gijon and squandered the chance to provisionally go top of La Liga on Saturday.

Jorge Sampaoli's side were chasing a win to seal the club's best-ever start to a league season and Luciano Vietto got them off to a dream start by latching on to a boot up field from goalkeeper Sergio Rico to squeeze the ball under Ivan Cuellar in the fourth minute.

Sevilla grabbed a first away victory in 17 months in their previous outing at Leganes but hopes of a second straight win on the road were soon dashed by Moi Gomez's volley to level the scores in the 20th minute.

The visiting side dominated the remainder of the game and despite chances falling to Franco Vazquez and Pablo Sarabia, and Sporting's Duje Cop hitting his own side's post, a winner proved elusive.

Sevilla stay second, level on 21 points with leaders Real Madrid, who play at Alaves later on Saturday.

Champions Barcelona can leapfrog Sevilla when they host bottom side Granada, while Atletico Madrid play Malaga at home. (Reporting by Richard Martin; Editing by Clare Fallon)