Paula Lerin
Valencia, 11 Feb. Athletic, with goals from Nico Williams and Oihan Sancet, managed to come back from Samu Castillejo’s opening goal after a game in which Valencia met Unai Simón, who was decisive with a brilliant performance to earn the visitors victory. They enter the European zone as the locals fall into the relegation zone.
Athletic wanted to be the protagonist against a Valencia who were in relegation grounds in a Mestalla that looked half empty and had around 7,000 fans protesting the property outside the stadium, but, after reading the dangerous intentions of the Basque team on the right wing of Nico Williams, the locals knew how to close the spaces, move away from the intense pressure and chain the counter-attacks with each possession.
After eight minutes, Cavani got up and beat the Bilbao defense to head in a measured cross from Gayà, but his shot went wide. The Uruguayan striker couldn’t create more chances, as he was injured in the 16th minute and was replaced by Hugo Duro.
Valencia seemed to have let go of that depression that has accompanied them in recent games and, with a determined and fluid counterattack, they managed to take the lead with a goal from Castillejo (m.17) after a good combined game between Ilaix, Lino and the goalscorer.
As the fans left outside the stadium took their place from the 19th minute with chants against Peter Lim, which the rest of the stadium followed, Musah prevented Vivian’s shot by clearing Lekue’s cross.
The black and white players tried to increase the gap with a Chilean in Hugo Duro who went slightly wide, but Nico Williams started and surprised the home defense with a great individual play to equalize and, before the break , Unai Simón released a nice hand. to clear a Lino kick and keep the boards bright.
The second half started level with an Athletic team who managed to create more danger than in the first act, but the most convincing chances were for the Valencians, who saw how Unai Simón again rejected a shot powerful of Castillejo with another great intervention.
However, as happened in the first half, very little was enough for Athletic to hurt their rival. Valencia were again ordered to take the ball played and Muniaín was careful to catch a ball from Cömert and give it to Iñaki Williams, who helped Sancet put forward Ernesto Valverde’s team (m.72) , who calmly waited for his opportunity.
Despite the comeback, Valencia didn’t crumble and continued their efforts with shots from Hugo Duro, Ilaix and Diakhaby, but the international keeper put in a brilliant game and was decisive to seal the victory for Athletic, who again won at Mestalla a fortnight after the cup tie. After the final whistle, the Valencia supporters exploded with a formidable scarf against the box.
Data sheet:
1 – Valencia: Mamardashvili; Foulquier, Cömert, Diakhaby, Gayà; Ilaix Moriba, Musah (Lato, m.69), Almeida; Castillejo (Kluivert, m.69), Lino (Fran Perez, m.87) and Cavani (Hugo Duro, m.16)
2 – Athletic: Unai Simon; From Mark (Walls, m.89), Yeray, Vivian, Lake; Sancet, Vesga; Nico Williams (Dani Garcia, m.80), Muniain (Guruzeta, m.80), Berenguer (Zarraga, m.46); and Raul Garcia (Iñaki Williams, m.61)
Goals: 1-0, m.17: Castillejo. 1-1, m.30: Nico Williams. 1-2, m.72: Sancet
Referee: Soto Grado (Riojano Committee). He berated Hugo Duro and Castillejo for the home side and Nico Williams and De Marcos for the visitors.
Incidents: Match corresponding to the twenty-first day of LaLiga 2022/23 played at the Mestalla stadium in front of 36,688 spectators. Before the start of the match, a minute of silence was observed in memory of the victims of the disaster in Turkey and Syria. Both teams posed together with the solidarity support skirt. EFE
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