A penalty converted by Berenger in the first half helps Valverde’s men take advantage in the tie
07 feb 2024 . Updated at 11:44 p.m.
Athletic Club won 0-1 against Atlético de Madrid in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-finals, thanks to a penalty converted by Alex Berenguer in the first half and which also broke the Madrid team’s unbeaten streak in their stadium. , which dated January 8, 2023 in a league match against FC Barcelona.
At the Cvitas Metropolitano, decked out for another great cup event, the locals first warned with a header from Axel Witsel at 42 seconds, on a rebound from goalkeeper Julen Agirrezabala. But Dani Vivian responded quickly, with a low shot from the edge of the area that went wide, after Memphis Depay arrived late in the coverage.
Memphis himself then sent a right hand over the rival goal, after a good collective play in the release of the ball. The team coached by Diego Pablo Simeone took a lot of risks, moving at the pace of Rodrigo De Paul, although almost without connecting up front with Antoine Griezmann.
After a quarter of an hour of play, leaning to the right wing, Griezmann also sent a cross-shot high with his right foot. The local team was missing a goal, and in the 22nd minute they failed twice where they least expected it. Iaki Williams stole a ball from Reinildo Mandava inside the area and, although the ‘lion’ did not control it, the play was still very much alive.
The Bilban team made that attack and Gorka Guruzeta filtered a good pass to Beat Prados, who immediately cut it over Reinildo; The Mozambican defender ‘ate’ that dribble, clearly knocked down his opponent and the referee signaled a penalty. With nerve, Alex Berenguer deceived Jan Oblak in his execution and made it 0-1 for the visitors.
The colchoneros scored the goal and Guruzeta in the 27th minute was not far from scoring with a cross shot from the left side, which after tripping over an opponent almost surprised Oblak. Athletic dominated the game from that moment on, without needing to monopolize possession of the ball, and threatened several more times from the extremes.
The ‘lions’ did not miss Nico Williams, absent due to injury, since his rivals lacked brilliance. The ‘Cholo’ team turned their attempts to the left, with Memphis combining with Samu Lino, without Nahuel Molina appearing on the opposite side. The victim was still Griezmann, who sent a low shot shortly before the break.
Of course, the last scare of the first half was once again for the Bilban team, thanks to a right-footed shot by Berenguer on a counterattack that Oblak repelled well placed in his goal. Atlético needed a breath of fresh air and seemed to find it upon returning from the locker room, removing Reinildo to bring on Mario Hermoso.
Little of Hermoso and Llorente
The stands supported the start of the second act, especially each start by De Paul, who took advantage of a mistake by Iigo Ruiz de Galarreta in the 52nd minute. The Colchonero ‘5’ saw a gap on the left wing for Lino’s sprint, who culminated his attack with a left-footed shot near the post.
The duel had become lively and both coaches noticed it, so Simeone moved pieces. He then introduced Marcos Llorente and Alvaro Morata, to which Valverde responded by putting Unai Gmez on the field along with Asier Villalibre. And precisely these created danger in the 62nd minute, with the former Alavs player about to sneak in a rebound from the goalkeeper.
Llorente’s usual momentum was not having the effect desired by Simeone on the right side, while Lino continued as a weapon on the other wing. In the 70th minute, the ex-Valencian player had a very clear opportunity, but his right cross again went narrowly wide.
Everything was quite tangled and Atlético pressed without reward, despite the will shown by De Paul. The ‘Cholo’ then trusted in the also Argentine Ángel Correa, but in the air there was the option of Athletic increasing their income in a counterattack by Iaki Williams.
Stefan Savic made a couple of mistakes in the local defense and that revived the hope of the ‘lions’, who sighed in the 82nd minute when Morata stumbled while finishing off a Lino cross from point-blank range. The duel entered a phase of bullfighting, where an error by Witsel in another ball exit was close to costing Atlético dearly.
Next, Correa almost equalized with a low shot inside the area after Llorente rushed to the bottom and passed back. Almost on the goal line, Iigo Lekue avoided what would have been 1-1 and embittered an Atlético somewhat overrevolution.
To liven things up, Roro Riquelme took to the field in the final stages. As if that were not enough, as soon as injury time began there was a penalty from the newly introduced Yeray Álvarez on Morata. Many Metropolitano fans were already savoring the goal, but the local ’19’ was offside before Griezmann’s cross.
Except for a header from Morata himself in the very last play, from De Paul’s center, the Colchonero team ran out of fuel. With the visitor’s victory at the Metropolitano, this semi-final first leg was completed, something that had not happened since matchday 16 of LaLiga 2022/23 against Bara (0-1).
Technical sheet:
Atlético de Madrid: Oblak; Molina (Llorente, min.58), Savic, Witsel, Reinildo (Hermoso, min.46), Lino (Riquelme, min.84); Barrios (Correa, min.73), Koke, De Paul; Griezmann and Memphis (Morata, min.58).
Athletic: Accredited; Lekue, Vivian, Paredes, Yuri; Galarreta, Prados (Herrera, min.61); Sancet (Unai Gmez, min.53), Berenguer (Vesga, min.85), Iaki Williams (Yeray, min.85); y Cruzeta (Villalibre, min.53).
Gol: 0-1, min.25: Berenguer (penalty).
arbitration: Hernndez Hernndez (C.Las Palmas). Yellow carded Reinildo (min.23) and De Paul (min.83) at Atlético de Madrid, and Prados (min.37), Vivian (min.45+2), Unai Gmez (min.71) and Galarreta (min.90+6) at Athletic Club.
Estadio:Metropolitan, 65,029 spectators.
2024-02-07 22:44:00
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