Betis recovers positions and increases Cádiz’s doubts

A goal from Argentine Guido Rodríguez, when he entered the final stretch of the match, gave Betis victory (1-0) and with it regain positions in the table and even surpass his rival, a Cádiz who worked well with him initial draw but did not react afterwards, increasing his doubts with three consecutive defeats.

After a first half in which Cádiz controlled and enjoyed the best chance of that period, with a shot off the crossbar by Salvi Sánchez, in the second the Sevillian formation took the initiative of the game.

The Mexican Diego Lainez, who had left for Aitor Ruibal, was the one who served a ball to Guido Rodríguez so that he made it 1-0, his first goal of the season in the League, with a cross shot that the goalkeeper could not respond to. Argentine Jeremías Ledesma at 71 minutes of play, without the reaction of Cádiz having the necessary power to, at least, recover a point.

Both teams faced the game with the intention of enjoying the few days off that they will have this Christmas with a good taste in their mouths after their respective defeats the previous day and also the bad feelings they offered.

Betis came out with many absences forced by injury, such as those of the Chilean goal Claudio Bravo, the central Marc Bartra or the midfielders Sergio Canales and the Portuguese William Carvalho, in addition to the Brazilian side Emerson Royal, who was sanctioned.

Yes, the Chilean coach Manuel Pellegrini could count on the medium Guido Rodríguez at the last minute, from whom the Competition Committee withdrew a yellow card and with it the sanction for accumulating cautions.

Guido and the Mexican Andrés Guarded, who returned to the team after being dropped in Granada due to an upset stomach, sought balance in the center of the field in the intention of Pellegrini to dominate in that plot as a base so that they do not create danger.

Given this, the Cádiz coach, Álvaro Cervera, made changes in his starting team to, as he recognized in the previous one, put in fresher players that would give a new dynamic to the team, but, in any case, with the iron defensive system how good statistics they give him outside the Ramón de Carranza stadium, a condition in which he always looks for counterattacks to score points.

The yellow team was close to achieving the goal soon, when in a counterattack at eighteen minutes a shot by captain Salvi Sánchez found the crossbar of a goal Joel Robles already beaten.

The visitors handled the situation well with the advance towards the break in front of a local team that had more the ball but did not find the connection between their midfield and the most advanced men, which kept the attempts against their opponents .

The second half started the same, with the Sevillian team taking the initiative to play and control the ball and the Cadiz tightly closed, but soon Cervera gave entry to Honduran striker Anthony ‘Choco’ Lozano, by Serbian Filip Malbasic, to give him more speed to his attack.

Betis put some speed into their actions, also looked for the bands and found the French Nabil Fekir more active, who had the Mexican Diego Lainez in the creation zone.

Fekir and Lainez were protagonists in the play that Guido Rodríguez culminated with a crossed shot at 71 minutes of play and that ultimately led to the local victory.

Cervera, who had already made four changes and exhausted his substitution windows, faced the final stretch of the match with the adverse scoreboard and was more impetuous before the Betic goal, before which Choco Lozano and Álvaro Negredo appeared with good options, but not enough to mark.