Gimnàstic de Tarragona - Athletic Club

Athletic Club have achieved their first triumph in the current league competition by defeating Gimnástic by 2-3 en Tarragona, Yeste scored 2 goals as a result of penalties and Iraola scored a great goal from outside the goal area. The local goals were scored by Athletic Club player Sarriegi and Makukula. The victory, besides allowing us to climb back up the league ladder, will help us face the near future with a large doses of optimism and tranquillity. After having led the match by 0-3 against an inferior rival our team were made to suffer as you can imagine by looking at the final score of 2-3, food for thought when it comes to controlling matches and overcoming the obstacles encountered in each clash but let’s not forget that many of the players in our team are young.

It wasn’t a do or die match and it would be premature for the team to start thinking that way, but still it was an important game if you consider the drop in moral after the draw in Getafe or our encounter against FC Barcelona, nevertheless, this match ended up in triumph and a bonus for all the work done previously. Yesterday the Red-Whites only really got into the game half way through the encounter. In the 8th minute a header by Sarriegi sailed over the goalposts and then came our first goal. A ball which was finished off by Iraola from within the goal area and was intercepted by a local defender, who seemed to be playing the role of goalkeeper, with his hands. The referee was informed of this by the linesman and penalty was called. Aduriz did not take the kick because his ex-team-mate Bizarri was aware of his modus operandi so Yeste took the kick instead and was able to outsmart the goalkeeper. In the 15th minute Yeste made a break but passed the ball instead of going for the goal.

The reaction on behalf of the locals was foreseeable and they didn’t make our team wait long, with some well directed shots from the right wing by the ex rojiblanco Cuéllar. Lafuente was given a work out by Irurzun in the 16th minute, Cáceres had a go with a header in the 20th and Irurzun’s shot at goal in the 22nd minute didn’t come out as planned. After having weathered the storm the match became more even, but not numerically speaking as Ruz was sent off in minute 27 of the game. We admit that it was Aduriz who struck the ball with his hand in the penalty that was awarded to our team, in the first match day round against Real Sociedad, what’s more we have to say that Casas’s expulsion in the previous match was totally unfair and, rest assured that we will continue to speak our mind: The referee should not have been so severe with regards to the foul committed by Ruz nor with the foul which resulted in the player getting his first yellow card. Athletic didn’t have time for the adrenaline to sink in and Iraola, with the left, scored by taking advantage of the fact that Bizzarri could only deflect the ball after his one on one with Aduriz. Athletic were now winning by 0-2 and the hardest part seemed to be over with. Prieto maintained the lead by clearing a ball from under the goalposts when Portillo beat Lafuente in the 30th minute, and Gabilondo stepped in for an injured Garmendia in the 34th.

Things could have gotten worse for Nástic if the referee had pulled out a red card instead of a yellow one in response to the foul committed by Matellán when tackling Aduriz, the tackle was much worse and much nastier than his team-mate Ruz’s tackle only minutes before. Nevertheless he got what he deserved.

To conclude the first half, a new chapter was opened with regards to the close relationship that exists between Gabilondo and the goalposts, in the 40th minute the player hammered the ball with his right but unfortunately the ball struck the cross bar. On behalf of our rivals, Irurzun took a shot at goal with a header that missed its mark
four minutes later.

Prior to the start of the second half, Luis César tried to breathe some fresh air into his team by sending in Merino and Campano to replace Juan and Irurzun, however, things were going the Red-Whites’ way. Aduriz took a shot at goal which went over the cross bar in the 47th minute and then came the great goal scored by Yeste in the 50th, which came about when Aduriz was able to intercept with his head a long pass by Lafuente, this enabled the Captain to take aim and score the goal from an angle.

Things were looking bright, however, in minute 55 of the game Sarriegi accidentally converted an innocent pass from the left into goal. This along with the substitution of a limping Orbaiz seemed to put a damper on things. Iturriaga was sent in to replace Orbaiz and thus making his debut in the 58th minute, still the squad from Tarragona did not react immediately. Yeste had another opportunity in the 60th minute when taking a foul shot which ended up being a corner and, yet another two minutes later with a great run that came to nothing as their was nobody to finish it off. Who’d of thought that Gimnástic were about to make a come back. Makukula who stepped in for David García in the 64th minute was the key.

Nástic were on a high while Athletic Club were unable to control the pace of the match, nor possess the ball for a long period of time, as you would expect of a team who were numerically speaking superior and to make things worse, Makukula was able to head the ball into the back of the net easily in the 71st minute causing the Red-White legs to tremble at the uncertainty of the score-board. Llorente was sent in to replace Yeste and even had a few goal-scoring opportunities that would have sealed the match, for example in minute 81 of the game, but the team could not increase their lead and this meant that the taste of our first victory could not be truly savoured until the 94th. A victory which we hope will lead to better things.