It was not the dream trip to Palma. Not really. Athletic arrived three hours late at its destination because the wind prevented its plane from taking off from Loiu at the scheduled time and then, at the grass level of Son Moix, it could not take off, even at low altitude, in front . of a Mallorca was left with ten players due to the dismissal of Samu, for a double yellow, in the 23rd minute of the match. The Arrasate team did what they had to do with one down and left the lions’ undisguised intention of going home with three more points in their bag half finished.
The Bilbao team is usually uncomfortable in this Balearic stadium. Neither in numerical equality, nor in inferiority, nor in superiority. Yesterday it was bright again.
Despite being eleven against ten for almost 70 minutes, the local goalkeeper barely had to intervene. In fact, Arrizabalaga made it more complicated when at the start of the match he stopped Muriqi from making it 1-0 with his legs in a successful stretch. Then he hardly needed to interfere.
Sometimes due to a lack of rhythm, other times due to haste or bad choices, sometimes due to a lack of precision in the final passes… Mallorca, with a solid and consistent defense, had more clarity of ideas . Theirs, of course, consists mainly of destruction, of resistance. Athletic have no fangs to sink their teeth into a wounded rival. The top ones didn’t have their night and the bit of luck required in this kind of situation didn’t help either as Williams had two goals disallowed, well disallowed, by a few centimeters and the little fell ball over the crossbar with the goal marked.
Four changes
Arrasate first chose the same starting eleven that just finished defeating Rayo Vallecano in Son Moix. The vermilion team stood with a clear 4-4-2, although Robert Navarro and Darder alternated on the wing quite often.
Valverde, for his part, turned around, although not as much as in previous games. Gorosabel and Yeray entered the defense, Jauregizar returned to the double pivot at the expense of Prados and Sancet, having fully recovered from his muscle injury, played in the midfield. Berenguer started this time on the bench.
Muriqi opened the scoring in the first minute of play. Agirrezabala stopped it with a successful intervention on his feet when he appeared to be beaten. The lions suffered in these early stages against a brave local team. Controversy arose around the 23rd minute.
Samu, who already had a yellow for a tackle that the referee went to consult VAR in case it was a red, was sent off for another similar to the previous one where he first touched the ball and then the leg of Galarreta, a player who returned to Bilbao from Mallorca and from then on the local fans started booing him every time he touched the ball. Arrasate immediately removed Larin to put Mascarell in the middle.
The vermillions, despite being outnumbered, did not suffer against an Athletic that was incapable of causing danger. The visitors’ best chance came on the brink of half an hour after a cross from Iñaki Williams that his brother Nico headed into the back of the net, but the referee, at the request of VAR, disallowed the goal because the ball goes over the surface. the goal line earlier.
The dynamic didn’t change in the second half. Mallorca, who lacked one, retreated and the Bilbao team, who had another, did not suffer at the back, but did not create chances to score. Both technicians, because of what they saw, took action to strengthen their respective goals. Arrasate first brought Antonio Sánchez and then Dani Rodríguez. Valverde first turned to Vivian because Paredes was yellow, then to Berenguer and Djaló to find attacking solutions and then to Herrera to make the game more organized.
Iñaki Williams was the liveliest when it came to finishing and even scored, but was clearly offside. His brother Nico hit the crossbar moments later. The entry of De Marcos, who surpassed Rojo I in Athletic’s historical ranking, completed the carousel of substitutions for the visiting side. It will be again.
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.
