Getafe CF - Athletic Club
Matchday 4
Liga

Getafe CF - Athletic Club

Getafe CF
Getafe CF
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Athletic Club
Athletic Club

LocationColiseum Alfonso Pérez , Getafe

Getafe 0-Athletic Club 0: A hopeful point

Coach Felix Sarriugarte decided to make some changes in the starting formation: Lafuente has replaced…

Athletic Club

Coach Felix Sarriugarte decided to make some changes in the starting formation: Lafuente has replaced Aranzubia as goalie, Murillo has played right winger and Ustaritz replaced Prieto as centre defender, Orbaiz rejoined the squad, as has Javi Martinez at his side, Iraola has played as midfielder and Garmendia has debuted as starting offensive forward; many changes and a more rejuvenated aspect, at least in the first minutes. Following the visitors’ tradition, the first clear option came from Athletic. In this case, it arrived four minutes into the game when Yeste’s header missed wide. Immediately afterwards, Paunovic sent a shot off-pitch with his right, shortly before the clearest local option, 14 minutes into the game, when, coming from a corner, Aduriz combed the ball backwards and Orbaiz warded it off from under the goalmouth as well as he could; first with his head, after the ball hit the crossbar and post, and with an involuntary hand.

Once the bad patch had passed Amorebieta’s injury arrived, which forced his replacement in the 18th minute after he suffered a sharp cramp in his left adductor muscle. Expósito came in to replace him while the referee began his card festival and Athletic sheltered itself exclusively in its defence. Little by little, the team began to stretch, which resulted in a header by Garmendia straight into Pato’s hands in the minute 33; an off-pitch, right-footed shot by Yeste in the 35th, and yet another block from a free kick.
It appeared as though the first half would end with no more frights, but it was not to be. Orbaiz came in quite hard to try to cut off a counter-attack, the referee, for once and without it serving as precedent, applied the advantage clause, while in the midfield a good brawl was escalating. Finally, Aduriz was booked with a red card for having shoved a Getafe player; a clearly appealable play.

The expulsion changed the development of the match, although not for long. In the second half, Getafe came out with force and its first and almost only opportunity has been a wide shot on goal by Sousa in the minute 49. In the 51st, Contra was booked with a second yellow. The match balanced, despite the fact that the accumulation of yellow cards would bring retribution and most of the opportunities have been red-and-white. Garmendia, on the half-turn, shot wide on goal in the minute 57. In the 59th minute, a header by Ustaritz was repelled from under the goalmouth by a defender.

Schuster made his first two changes in the minute 62: Pachón and Casquero in for Sousa and Redondo. In order to break the balance, Sarriugarte introduced Llorente for Garmendia in the 68th minute and the match appeared to take a more rojiblanco turn. In spite of everything, the following opportunity was for the hosts with a line drive shot by Paredes, which Lafuente stopped in the 76th minute. Both teams wanted the victory and Athletic had the clearest occasion in the minute 84, when Sarriegi shot a high header centred from a corner. Almost immediately, Murillo saw his second yellow and from that point until the end, with some anxieties along the way, the one point was defended in order to not lose what had cost so much to preserve. Whether the facts aren’t reflected on the table as one would have wished, the one point surely serves to reinforce the morale in view of future commitments; without a doubt.