Athletic tied on their visit to Valladolid in a very jammed and difficult match to watch. Valverde’s men once again go on a national team break without winning and it seems that this is now customary. On the part of the locals it is a very valuable point but it means little because they had the victory in their hands until the last minute.
Athletic reached matchday 10 of the League after playing in Europe on Thursday, Ernesto was obliged to rotate the squad and he did so. The youth player Nico Serrano won in Bulgaria to start today against Valladolid after playing a great game and considerably helping the comeback in the Europa Laque match. Athletic seeks to score 3 points in this match after losing 2 points in their last League match against Betis, who despite their continuous arrivals lacked success and were unable to get more than a draw at San Mamés.
Ernesto Valverde, Athletic coach | Source: OneFootballNetwork
The match began at the José Zorrilla after a chilling minute of silence in memory of the DANA victims in Valencia. Athletic’s high pressure made it very difficult for Valladolid to get the ball out and as a result, possession was for the rojiblancos who lived in the rival field for the first few minutes. This did not mean that Valladolid had its arrivals; In the 11th minute Julen had to put on his overalls to save his team from the first goal. Minutes later Nico Williams was going to waste an excellent chance in a counterattack in which Hein was in front inside the area, but the ball was left behind him a little and his shot was not directed between the three posts.
The defensive solidity of the Valladolid team combined with the lack of success in the last meters of the Basques resulted in a goalless tie that lasted until the last minutes of the first half. In a defensive action by Beñat Prados he saw the red card in the first instance in the last minutes when he tried to cut off a counterattack with a cut from behind on Raúl Moro. However, after reviewing the action in the VAR, the referee rectified by sanctioning Beñat with a yellow card. Moro himself had the clearest shot for Valladolid in the 44th minute with a diagonal shot from the wing to the front of the area and a left-footed shot sent the ball grazing Julen’s crossbar.
Paredes, Athletic centre-back, defending an attack | Source: OneFootballNetwork
Ernesto made a triple change at half-time, bringing on Djaló, De Galarreta and Mikel Vesga with the intention of changing the course of the game as soon as possible. However, the team did not react, or at least not as Valverde intended, and the team remained just as stuck as the entire first half. In the sixtieth minute there was a carousel of changes for both teams, the Basque team released Guruzeta who returned to the playing fields after being unemployed for a month. During the midway point of the second half, it was Valladolid that came in with a little more clarity, although without any obvious scoring opportunities.
Gol de Moro | Source: OneFootballNetwork
Guruzeta had the clearest chance in the 75th minute. Óscar De Marcos took a low cross that was passing through the area and found the Athletic forward who touched it with the toe of his boot but it was not enough to send it to the back of the goal. grid. In the 78th minute the match opened and turned in favor of the home team. Iván Sanchez picked up a rejected ball in the corner of the area, beat his marker with a sensational drive and put a warm ball into the heart of the area that was finished off by Moro to the goalkeeper’s long post, making any attempt by Julen Aguirrezabala impossible. Athletic tried to react but it seemed impossible with a great Valladolid in defense. In the last minute, to the joy of the red and whites, Athletic’s goal came. Now Gorka Guruzeta managed to finish off a cross from a set piece in an acrobatic way, and after touching the goalkeeper he ended up slowly sneaking into the Valladolid squad. The referee whistled the end of a match in which neither team deserved to win.
Athletic’s goal, Gorka Guruzeta | Source: AthleticClub
Aguirrezabala – Adama – Paredes – Yeray – De Marcos – Jaureguizar (De Galarreta) – Prados (Vesga 45′) – Unai Gómez (Djaló) – Nico Williams – Nico Serrano – Berenguer (Guruzeta 63′)
Hein – L. Pérez – Javi Sánchez – Juma Bah – D.Torres – L. Rosa – Moro – Juric – Anuar (Ivan Sánchez 60′) – M. Sylla (De Sousa 60′) – Kike Pérez
Senegal
