See and don’t believe. The Athletic game played yesterday in San Mamés was a real disaster. The lions, with options to enter the European zone, fell to a brave and dangerous Girona, scored two of the three rival goals in their own goal and lost several pieces due to injury in the first leg of the Cup semifinal in El Sadar.
Míchel’s team knew what they were playing at all times. Valverde’s, no. By the time they wanted to enter the game, the rojiblancos were already losing 0-2.
Aleix Vidal soon opened the scoring and De Marcos accidentally made it 0-2 before minute 20. The lions, with Nico Williams out due to injury, managed to close the gap through Yuri. San Mamés then believed in a comeback, but a breath away from half-time, after another free-kick from the edge, Vesga beat his own goalkeeper with his clearance attempt.
The troubles did not end there- Unai Simón, injured, was replaced at halftime. Yeray also had to withdraw due to physical problems. Raúl García lasted until the end and even signed the second goal for Bilbao, but with an arm injury. Morcillo barely had time to spend a few minutes on the grass because he broke his clavicle. Most painfully impossible.
from surprise to surprise
The fact that Valverde saved his call until the last minute was in response to the loss of Nico Williams due to injury. The rojiblanco coach, in such a situation, decided to put his brother Iñaki on the wing with Guruzeta as center forward. Meanwhile, Unai Simón returned to goal, Yuri on the left side and Paredes served as center back to replace the suspended Vivian.
Míchel, for his part, was planted in San Mamés with an expected starting eleven. Girona stood with a clear 1-4-1-4-1. Oriol Romeu played between defense and midfield with Castellanos up front.
Soon the meeting was put before the guests. Aleix García, following Tsyhankov’s fall, opened the scoring before the fourth minute. The lions continued to do their thing, but without being able to control the situation. belt Chances continued to fall to the rival side.
Unai Simón had to work hard in two consecutive actions and in the third he was unable to prevent De Marcos, after Castellanos’ shot, from scoring an own goal. 0-2 in the 19th minute did not bode well for the people of Bilbao.
Athletic, despite everything, did not give up and continued to work hard until they reduced their lead through Yuri ten minutes before the break. Girona started to feel the local pressure, but managed to increase their lead with another goal from the locals’ own goal. Aleix García took a free kick from the sideline, Paredes extended backwards and the ball bounced off Vesga before sliding into Unai Simón’s goal.
The second half started with Agirrezabala under the sticks instead of Unai Simón and Raúl García for Guruzeta. The lions tried hard to find the goal of the visit, but they could not trouble Gazzaniga. Agirrezabala had to make the most of Riquelme’s shot.
The decorum of the meeting continued unchanged. Valverde removed Yeray and made Lekue play as a central defender. Míchel, who a few minutes earlier had been forced to take Miguel off because of the injured Javi Hernández, asked for oxygen with Valery and Iván Martín. The game continued to be a Bilbao that I wanted and could not. Capa and Morcillo are the last bet of the local coach. The second of them broke his clavicle moments later.
Girona, with Reinier and Stuani, maintained their advantage and, despite Raúl García’s late goal, claimed victory in San Mamés.
athletic
23
GIRONA
Athletic: Unai Simón (Agirrezabala, m.46); De Marcos (Capa, m.78), Yeray (Lekue, m.68), Paredes, Yuri; Vesga, Sancet (Morcillo m.78), Muniain; Iñaki Williams, Berenguer and Guruzeta (Raúl García, m.46).
Girona: Gazzaniga; Arnau, Santi Bueno, Juanpe, Javi Hernández (Miguel Gutiérrez, m.61); Romeu, Aleix Garcia; Tsygankov (Reinier, m.80), Borja García (Valery, m.71), Riquelme (Iván Martín, m.71); and Castellanos (Stuani, m.80).
the objectives: 0-1, m.4: Aleix García. 0-2, m.19: De Marcos, own goal. 1-2, m.35: Yuri. 1-3, m.46+: Vesga, own goal. 2-3, m.89: Raúl Garcia.
Referee: Isidro de Mera Escuderos (Committee of Castilla-La Mancha). He showed a yellow card to locals De Marcos (m.14), Yeray (m.44) and coach Ernesto Valverde (m.78), and to visitors Castellanos (m.16), Santi Well (m.28). ), Arnau (m.36) and Oriol Romeu (m.72).
VAR referee: José Luis González González (Castilla y León Committee).
happenings: Match of day 23 of LaLiga Santander played in San Mamés before 42,816 spectators, official data.
see the match sheet
Source: La Verdad
I am Shawn Partain, a journalist and content creator working for the Today Times Live. I specialize in sports journalism, writing articles that cover major sporting events and news stories. With a passion for storytelling and an eye for detail, I strive to be accurate and insightful in my work.
