Jaime Mata returned to the ‘bite’ and smiled

One year, three months and twenty-four days. That was the time it took for Jaime Mata to score another goal. When they soon fell from his pockets, now, covered by Borja Mayoral and Enes Ünal, he accumulates substitutions and lack of minutes. However, in the friendly his team played against Real Jaén this Thursday, he regained his smile.

Getafe won 2-3 in the Andalusian club’s centenary celebrations with a brace from Jaime Mata and the same for Juanmi Latasa, who also needed minutes and goals. And although the youth squad player on loan this summer from Real Madrid scored his second goal of the season, the friendly’s great opponent was Jaime Mata.

The blue striker is a beloved player in the locker room. Although his presence on the pitch is no longer as transcendental as in the previous three seasons, when he scored 14 goals (2019/20), he is the key when it comes to making a group. Day after day, from the bench, he never stops encouraging his teammates to the point where he almost feels like a member of the coaching staff.

However, Jaime Mata, who has a contract until June 2024, is still a player who eats goals and has not celebrated one since November 30, 2021, when he scored a hat-trick against Mollerusa in a Cup match King . Since then, its drought has stretched over time to easily exceed a year.

From everything to almost nothing

Gradually, Jaime Mata stopped entering the Getafe line-ups and the data, since his good game against Mollerusa, shows: in total, he has accumulated 40 official matches as a substitute; of them, in only 20 he enjoyed the minutes; and he has only started twice and missed nine games due to injury and once due to suspension.

But the statistics for this season are more worrying for Jaime Mata, who barely participated in twelve games to add a total of 62 minutes (2.4 percent of the total). Right now, his role as captain is done in the locker room and in training. The responsibility on the pitch every weekend was taken by someone else.

Those times seemed far away when he was called up by Luis Enrique Martínez’s Spanish team. In March 2019, Jaime Mata was touched by heaven when he was called up to play for La Roja in two Euro Cup qualifying matches against Malta and Norway. At that time, in the 2018/19 season, he had 15 goals in all competitions and, along with Jorge Molina and Ángel Rodríguez, he took turns to form a more than competitive trio in José Bordalás’ line-ups.

Relegated to substitution

In the final year of the Alicante coach, Mata started to drop his numbers. The arrival of Enes Ünal and “Cucho” Hernández, added to the continuation of Ángel Rodríguez and the drop in Getafe’s level with Getafe’s farewell, caused an alarming drop in their statistics. He went from scoring 14 goals the previous season to signing 5.

And, later, the confirmation of Enes Ünal, already established with more scoring voracity, together with Borja Mayoral’s debt in the winter market, reduced their numbers again. Míchel’s confidence, first, and Quique’s confidence, later, dropped to their current levels. Jaime Mata currently counts only for friends or, in any case, for the last minutes of some games.

But, while he waits for an opportunity, he tries not to fail when opportunities arise. Against Real Jaén, he didn’t. He scored a penalty and another after completing a collective play. They weren’t important goals, but for Jaime Mata they meant to end a streak of more than a year without scoring. At least, although in luxury matches he does not appear in lineups, he has regained his nose for scoring. That is one step.