The young Blues deservedly led at the break through Thierry Ambrose but were left to rue a succession of missed first half chances as the Spanish outfit found the equaliser with just ten minutes left.
A share of the spoils leaves City and Sevilla locked on seven points at the top of Group D to set up an intriguing encounter in Spain in two weeks’ time.
Aaron Nemane was the hero of the last round as City came from behind to secure all three points against Borussia Monchengladbach – and with it, control of the group. The winger scored one and set up another as the Blues proved they possess steel as well as skill in Germany.
Duly rewarded with another start against Sevilla, Aaron lined up on the left wing opposite Patrick Roberts for the third game running, but Patrick Vieira made a total of four changes from the XI that started last time out.
With Cameron Humphreys and Will Patching away at the u17 World Cup with England there were starts for Pablo Maffeo and Kean Bryan, while Ambrose was handed the no.9 shirt and Daniel Grimshaw kept guard between the sticks.
It was a slow start in typical Manchester conditions – the Academy Stadium floodlights doing their best to burn off the coating of grey.
However, City soon began to seize the initiative, with Roberts’ silky skills drawing particular admiration from the assembled supporters and despair from his opposing defenders.
Nemane was scythed down as he tried to break away, skipper Bryan found the goalkeeper’s stomach with a powerful effort from range and Ambrose wasn’t far away from breaking the deadlock with a volley from inside the six yard box on 13 minutes.
City sensed the breakthrough coming as Sevilla’s defending got increasingly desperate. Bryan nearly capitalised on a defensive error, while Aleix Garcia’s free kick cleared the wall but was too close to the keeper after the captain had been bundled over when bearing down on goal.
However, Sevilla did not heed the warning and a free kick from a similar position just minutes later wasn’t cleared properly and Ambrose was in the right place at the right time to stab the ball home from close range and give the young Blues the lead their dominance deserved.
Grimshaw was finally called into action shortly before the break and the stopper dealt comfortably with Sevilla’s first attempt on target to preserve the slender lead going into the break.
The visitors perked up after the restart and Jose Amo put the ball wide from a free kick when he probably should have done better, but at the other end Roberts was inches away from doubling the advantage – curling his shot just wide after being set beyond the defence.
Ambrose miscued a header from close range shortly before the hour but City struggled to create more meaningful chances on goal despite continued superior possession.
Instead they suffered a sucker punch, as against the run of play substitute Miguel Martin levelled proceedings with ten minutes remaining, his low shot perfectly placed into the far corner.
Vieira made his final change and sent on Rodney Kongolo as City tried to control midfield in the latter stages against a Sevilla team with their tails firmly up.
Nemane and Faupala both slid dangerous crosses into the six yard box that were agonisingly close from connecting with a City boot, but the Blues were unable to really test the Sevilla keeper in the closing stages and full time arrived with neither side able to find the winner they craved.
The two teams face off in Spain in a fortnight for what could prove a crucial game in determining the group’s final standings ahead of the last 16.
