Sevilla punished this Saturday in San Mamés (0-1) Athletic Club’s inexperience against the rival goal, where the Danish Thomas Delaney took one of his two chances and the rojiblancos players marched one after another until seven very clear occasions to mark.
Delaney’s, however, was a great goal. A tremendous shot from the edge that stayed in the right squad of Unai Simón. The Nordic midfielder had already had a first time, but the ball hit Iñigo Lekue and he went for a corner.
It was the first opportunity of the meeting and the rest of the game was a monologue before Bono in which up to six local players, Iñaki Williams, his brother Nico, Dani García, Raúl García, Iker Muniain, twice, and Unai Vencedor missed clear chances. In defense of Dani and Vencedor, it must be said that their shots from the front crashed into the sticks.
This triumph, the third in a row, consolidates Sevilla in second place in the table, provisionally 5 points behind the leader Real Madrid and 4 ahead of Betis.
Athletic this eighth game without winning, with three defeats in them, begins to create serious doubts and it moves him more and more away from some European positions that he has at four positions and six points.
Athletic started better, in which Muniain returned, but it was Sevilla, with four changes compared to Salzburg, the first that approached the rival goal with danger. He did it with a header from Delaney, a cross from the right by Oscar Rodríguez, who hit Lekue to send a corner ball that went between the three posts.
That play did not change the dynamics of the crash, with a Sevilla too relaxed in defense and an Athletic determined to open the scoring.
He had up to four chances to do it, but Iñaki Williams was covered by Bono’s shot after a visitor error; Dani García found the stick with a good shot from the edge; Nico Williams crossed too much a shot that skimmed the post; and Raúl also could not with the Moroccan goal after a failure in chain of the visitor defense.
As Athletic did not get ahead on four clear occasions, Sevilla did it in the second they had. Another from Delaney, who sent the squad with his left from the edge of the area and after receiving hurriedly from Montiel.
Athletic was not seen down despite being against what almost always this season: its ineffectiveness in definition. And he repeated his mistake again in a shot in the small area of Muniain, a pass from the eldest of the William; and in another shot from the front, this time the other midfielder, Vencedor, found again that the stick repelled his tight shot.
In Muniain’s play, The local captain requested a penalty by showing the referee the injury caused by the Sevilla defender that hit with his leg, at the height of the calf, just after the shot on goal.
The break seemed to disconnect the locals and give the visitors peace of mind, since the third quarter of the crash was almost a round of the sevillista team.
After the first round of substitutions by both teams came the first chance of the second half. The seventh of Athletic and the second of Muniain who sent to the clouds, with the left, a center already within the Williams area.
Hence at the end a shot with a certain intention from Sancet and more push than play and danger from an Athletic denied before the goal.
Datasheet:
0 – Athletic: Unai Simón; Lekue (Petxarroman, m.65), Yeray, Íñigo Martínez, Balenziaga; Nico Williams (Berenguer, m.75), Vencedor, Dani García (Zarraga, m.65), Muniain; Raúl García (Sancet, m.57) and Iñaki Williams.
1 – Sevilla: Bond; Montiel, Koundé, Diego Carlos, Augustinsson (Rekik, m.66); Fernando, Delaney, Óliver Torres (Jordán, m.66); Papu Gómez, Óscar Rodríguez (Gudelj, m.85) and Rafa Mir (Munir, 78).
Goals: 0-1, m.38: Delaney.
Referee: Alejandro Hernández Hernández (Committee of Las Palmas). He showed a yellow card to the locals Lekue (m.51), Dani García (m.61), Vencedor (m.65), Íñigo Martínez (m.93) and the visitor Fernando (m.73).
Incidents: Match day 17 of the First Division, played in San Mamés before some 36,737 spectators.
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