Matchday 11
Two goals from Bardhi from penalties, the first clear and the second much more debatable, equaled the goals of Griezmann and Cunha and fed the mattress doubts
There are rivals that beyond their level and for one reason or another become inaccessible. It cannot be said that this Levante is sweet, but it made Atlético stumble again, like last season, when it could well have separated him from the League title by taking away five points in a week in which, due to the crazy calendar derived from the covid, they disputed the duel of the first round and also that of the second.
This time it was controversial, with two penalties converted by Bardhi for the local side. The first, very clear from Suárez. The second, much grayer, by a Lodi hand of the kind that had never been punished before. They were enough booty to equalize the many visitors from Griezmann and Cunha and separate Simeone’s team, who was sent off for a double yellow and saw the outcome from the stands, of a victory for which perhaps he did not make enough merits but that he had already almost in her hands.
Both Javier Pereira and Simeone opted for defense with three center-backs and lanes, with a real revolution in the eleven granota, in which only Aitor, Vezo and Morales repeated with respect to Sánchez Pizjuán, and with an unusual double mattress pivot formed by Herrera and Koke and the luxury offensive trident that make up Joao Félix, Luis Suárez and Griezmann.
2
Levante
Aitor, Son (Miramón, min. 70), Róber Pier, Duarte, Vezo, Franquesa, Malsa (Pablo Martínez, min. 76), Pepelu (De Frutos, min. 80), Bardhi, Dani Gómez (Cantero, min. 70 ) and Morales.
2
Athletic
Oblak, Trippier, Felipe, Giménez, Hermoso (Lodi, min. 67), Carrasco, Herrera (De Paul, min. 59), Koke, Griezmann (Cunha, min. 72), Luis Suárez (Correa, min. 59) and Joao Felix.
Goals:
0-1: Griezmann, min. 12. 1-1: Bardhi, penalty, min. 37. 1-2: min. 76, Cunha. 2-2: Bardhi, penalty, min. 90.Referee:
Pablo González Fuertes (Asturian Committee). He admonished the Atlético Hermoso, Felipe, Koke, Giménez and Correa and the Levantine Pepelu. He sent off Simeone, for Atlético, and Róber Pier, from Levante, for a double yellow.Incidents:
Match of day 11 in First disputed in the City of Valencia before 16,000 spectators.
The pending account for Atlético was to avoid defensive errors, those that during a time he reduced to the minimum expression, and to control the game times. The result of this was his insistent dominance at the beginning. The lesson seemed learned and Joao Félix, with the confidence that he had so hard to display until very recently and as a result of his quality, tried a shot that was hastily rejected by Aitor. It was a warning, the punishment came just a few minutes later. Griezmann executed his head to debut in this League after Felipe imposed his powerful jump to put the ball in the pot.
If Atlético seemed comfortable from the beginning, the advantage gave them a further relaxation. Too much for the Levant at least began to enjoy long and elaborate possessions. As a result of that step forward came the first local occasion, in which Morales lacked better control to stand against Oblak. Duarte also forced Oblak’s response and the sensations were already different for the Granota fans suffered this season.
Controversial ending
To compensate for that imbalance that brings Simeone on his head with so many high-level attacker but a split team, the Argentine coach delayed Joao Félix, lowering the Portuguese to receive further back. However, Levante continued to do damage, this time with a heel touch from Róber Pier after a corner kick. It was before Luis Suárez committed a clear penalty on Vezo. Life turned upside down and the usual fateful outcome when a striker steps on his own area. Bardhi, an accomplished kicker, transformed with poise despite Oblak’s forceful presence and brought to the score a fair equalizer on the basis of the mattress slump.
The second part did not imply the mattress success to connect more with the attackers, but a concatenation of inaccuracies in the pass, so Simeone turned to his compatriots De Paul and Correa instead of Herrera and the ill-advised Suárez. Things still did not clear for Atlético, which mutated to a 4-4-2 releasing Carrasco with the entry of Lodi by Hermoso. Not for those, so Cunha to burn all the ships. And it turned out. De Paul showed his vision and precision in the pass and Cunha decided in the area and made his debut in the celebration as a rojiblanco.
The thing already seemed under athletic control but the VAR appeared when no one expected it. They interpreted from the video refereeing a hand from Lodi in the red-and-white area as a penalty, fueling the already impossible to unravel debate in this regard. Perhaps it is the maximum penalty with the regulations in hand but common sense invites us to think that it is an excessive punishment. The fact is that Bardhi was once again implacable in hitting from eleven meters to the delirium of a hobby that even saw his team end up putting Atlético in their own area in the midst of bewilderment in a mad ending.
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