Rayo Vallecano - Athletic Club

Athletic Club lost to Rayo Vallecano by 2-0 despite having played one of the matches with the greatest number of goal-scoring opportunities in it away from home, or in the current season even. Susaeta and Pachón scored the two local goals, both in the first half. With this result it’s obvious that the Red-Whites must make a big effort in the San Mamés match to stay alive in the Copa.

The most newsworthy item at the start of the match was Iñigo Pérez’s debut in an official match and Armando’s presence for the first time this season. As for the rest, our team, very well accompanied in the stands, came out wearing black and the panorama turned this colour in minute 6 of the game when a foul by who knows exactly who was sensibly converted into goal by Susaeta.

Athletic was not demoralized by the rival goal, just the opposite; their reaction was immediate, but unfortunately ineffective. Etxeberria gave Dani a work out, combining and later on in defence. In the 10th minute a Llorente header went high and the same thing happened in the 13th. Athletic did not stop and in the 18th there was a play that could have changed the direction of the match. A devilish line shot to the centre by Iraola from the right had reached the opposite goalpost, where Iñigo Pérez was without any markers and very close to the goal area, but his shot at goal wasn’t as strong as it should have been and Dani repelled the ball with his feet.

On top of everything else, in practically the following play Rayo forced a corner and after it was kicked, which I will talk about below, the ball went out and then back into the goal area and Pachón made the most of the last attempt at clearance to push the ball into an empty goal area.

If the first goal had given the wise experts and journalists something to talk about, the fact that it’s open to interpretation leaves any conclusion up in the air. On the other hand, the play that led to the second goal, even the person who is writing this chronicle can try to lend a hand to the never highly-spoken of experts and concludes with what he saw, an offside as big as the walls behind the goalposts in Teresa Rivero, right out of the authentic rule book. In fact, after the Rayo Vallecano player kicked the corner in short a team-mate stepped on the ball (which made it go forward), the player who had taken the corner kick made as if he was going for the ball (and did) and therefore was already offside, first of all because he was off the field as well and, besides, there were no red-white defenders there nor on the baseline. Looking at the footage one can even understand the explanation given above.

Come on, not only do the Athletic defenders and forwards make mistakes. And, just like we said on Sunday, you don’t lose because of the referee, at least not on this occasion, but anyone can have a bad day and it’s a question of luck and of our deficiencies. The shock over with, Etxeberria once more had a double occasion, this time in the 25th minute, a header, and in the 26th when he had a go with the left, but a defender’s leg got in the way and the ball was sent to corner.

On one of those few actions besides the goal scored in the first half, Pachón gave Armando a work out 30 minutes into the game. The match became even more
blocked, an insight of what was to come in the second half, with a generous Athletic in effort and a well organized Rayo behind and with criterion at the time of putting the ball into play.

A series of goal-scoring opportunities, one by Iraola who had finished off the ball badly with the left can be counted. Orbaiz tried from outside the goal area in minute 41 of the game, but sent the ball straight into the goalie’s hands and just before the interval a Koikili run ended up with Etxeberria finishing it off under pressure and he missed.

A bitter feeling during the break due to the undeserved result on the scoreboard. The problem at the re-start was that any move in this eliminatory, now difficult, could make things almost impossible for us. Castillo stepped in for Koikili, who had problems with the bones in his nose, but Athletic didn’t get off to such a good start as they had in the first. Rayo, with even more gaps, found themselves in a comfortable situation and Armando had to watch out for Rubén Reyes. Toquero was sent in to replace Pérez just after the start of the second half, sending Etxeberria to cover that wing. And from there he made the most out of a great opportunity in the 56th minute after a nice play between Llorente and Iraola, but Dani once more was able to repel the ball.

Gurpegi’s shot at goal struck Camille in the face and Iraola did not opt for controlling the ball and finished it off badly in minute 60 of the game. Four minutes later a weak header by Toquero was caught by Dani, in the 65th minute a Llorente header just missed and in the 68th minute Toquero finished off a ball which ended up corner. Afterwards Dani caught a volley by David López who was substituted by Gabilondo when there was only a quarter of an hour remaining.

Etxeberria, now on the right, centred so that Llorente could finish if off with a header that went over the crossbar. Time was running out and in the last stretch despite their perseverance, Athletic was affected by the efforts they had made and Mel’s squad had their clearest goal-scoring options, to top it all off, supported largely by their fresh players. Quero fired away but it was too high and Piti’s too crossed. These were moments of all or nothing, but there was Armando waiting to ruin everything, already in injury time, two clear opportunities one by Pachón, in a one to one, and Piti, a great header with everything in its favour. This punishment would have been excessive, as if returning to Bilbao without having scored a single goal is not.

No time for regrets, there’s still time to prepare for the Copa return match,
the League is here accompanied by a very attractive match: Athletic Club-Atlético de Madrid, a new opportunity to get back on the right track.