Athletic Club - Getafe CF

Athletic Club 2 Getafe 2


Athletic Club and Getafe reached a two-all draw at San Mamés. Orbaiz and Llorente, from a penalty, scored the Red-White goals, while Manu and Pedro León scored on behalf of the team from Madrid. The match had a bit of everything. A good start with a goal by Orbaiz, responded to by the visitors with a goal by Manu and the local goalscorer’s sending off before halftime. In the second half Athletic did not lose face, and besides did the most difficult thing, that is to score by means of Llorente from a penalty committed against Susaeta that ended up with Miguel Torres being sent off. Nevertheless, right at the end a shot by Pedro León that struck Gurpegi and San José meant that the match was equalized and the consequent sensations at the end of the match. Ironically, the draw allows our team to be in sixth place and keep our distance with regards to Getafe. Our minds are already set on Vicente Calderón, where Orbaiz and Amorebieta won’t be able to play due to their sanctions.

The match got off to a good start. Athletic were better, with rapid transitions behind the wingers and after a penalty called for by Llorente, Iraizoz’s first fright came about with a line shot kicked by Manu, but soon the first goal of the match was to be scored, by Orbaiz who took a well-placed shot at goal from outside the area after intercepting a pass from Llorente. In spite of all of this, Getafe were able to react and made the match go too slow for the pace our team wanted to impose.

The goalscoring opportunities on behalf of the visitors were almost transparent, a kick on the half turn that went out by Miku and another deflected by Parejo, but third time lucky with a centre-shoot by Manu that found the back of Iraizoz’s net, although the worst was still to come in the first half, seeing that due to the lack of danger on behalf of the visitors, Athletic were unable to regain the pulse of the match and what’s more had to play with one less, as Orbaiz was shown the red card for kicking Cortés after being nastily tackled by the latter.

The main aim was to stay alive at the halftime interval and things could have even got better if the linesman had not disallowed a one to one between Llorente and Codina as a result of a non-existent offside. With everything pending on the second half it was time to grow as a team and to get rid of the tag of being a team that doesn’t know what to do or how to play when they are inferior in numbers. Unlike what had happened in the first half of the season precisely against the very same rival, with 0-0 on the scoreboard, the sending off of Gurpegi and final score of 2-0, Athletic Club were solid and even came close to victory, having the second goal scored against them ironically when both teams only had ten players on the pitch.

To start with Gabilondo’s place was taken by Muniain and Athletic stepped onto the field with the 4-2-3 format with Martínez and Gurpegi behind Toquero, Llorente and Muniain. It was obvious that Getafe would have ball possession, but their superiority in numbers was not at any time so obvious during the second half. In fact in the first quarter of an hour of the restart the goalscoring opportunities paid a visit to both goal areas, many of them without being what you would say clear. Parejo took a weak one which went straight to Iraizoz’s hands, Castillo to Codina’s hands from a foul kick, and the clearest was for Iraola who crossed the ball but missed and even Toquero was just a second away from pushing this ball to the back of the net, Parejo from a foul also allowed Iraizoz to catch his shot easily, Miku took a deviated shot at goal and blunt was Boateng’s header following the corner kick, but Iraizoz was also well-positioned.

Despite the superiority in numbers, the match was even partly because Getafe hardly ever left their line of four and Athletic did not need to do much to create anxiety. As the goalscoring opportunities were becoming sparser there was a growing sensation that the match could go either way. One hour into the match we observed a high volley by Llorente and a missed foul shot taken by Pedro León. Gavilán stepped in for Manu, whereas Pérez Burrull, recently released from the icebox that occasionally the refereeing body has in store, kept on fighting among the protests from the spectators, sometimes justified and at other times not. It’s the referee’s duty and at the expense of what the concerned experts might say about things that end with “ato”, to book the players but the yellow cards were not shown to either Cortés, Amorebieta or Boateng, which would have been their second in the case of the first two players, while the one for the good half-back was left for the end.

In the remaining quarter of an hour the foot was on the accelerator and the match was a mad affair, with only ten minutes left to settle the continental account. In the end they only made it halfway, which is not bad seeing how things were in the 38th minute, but which amounts to little if we only concentrate on events that happened as of the 77th minute when the newcomer to the field Susaeta, who had stepped in for Toquero, applied the pressure when a ball was being kicked and its clearance left him in a position without intermediaries between him and the rival goalie.

Miguel Torres was sent off and on the way Llorente had put aside, at least for the time being; the shrewd debate as to whether team-mates, fans, friends or journalists should be in charge of kicking the penalties. The 2-1 score made everyone forget about previous sufferings while Michel who was accumulating more opinions about his charges at San Mamés sent Kepa and Adrián to replace Parejo and Cortés, however, it was Pedro León, backed by those damned rebounds or the ball slightly coming into contact with Gurpegi and San José, who was in charge of beating Iraizoz with only five minutes of the match left. The lesser of evils or the booty one could almost touch, although Llorente was on the verge of scoring during the delayed injury time, ironies of the match, as Boateng who was making use of his uncalled bookings to act as, also with a good score, as a centre.

It’s obvious that it’s a question of ending up there in the 38th match day, but the contrasting sensations, at the end of the match, of being in sixth place in the League but with the bitter aftertaste of not notching up points three by three especially as both Deportivo and Sevilla were defeated, although they surely must regret their empty handedness as their two pursuers, Athletic and Getafe are not far behind, despite only managing a draw. Anyway, it’ll be another story on Thursday and yet another next Monday, but it is already enormously satisfying knowing that whatever happens Athletic will fight it out for an award and not in order to escape from the flames.