Athletic Club - Getafe CF
Matchday 9
Liga

Athletic Club - Getafe CF

Athletic Club
Athletic Club
30
Getafe CF
Getafe CF
  • 6' Iraola
  • 11' San José (p.)
  • 83' Gabilondo

LocationSan Mamés , Bilbo

The score could have been greater

Athletic Club-Getafe: 3-0Athletic Club beat Getafe by 3-0. The goals having been scored by Iraola,…

Athletic Club

Athletic Club-Getafe: 3-0


Athletic Club beat Getafe by 3-0. The goals having been scored by Iraola, San Jose from penalty and Gabilondo. The Red-White superiority was clear all throughout the match and the final result on the scoreboard could have been greater. With this result the team has maintained their position in the middle of the league ladder and on Sunday, 7 November will have a real acid test in Vila-Real, home to the team in third spot.

After the 1st leg match of the King’s Cup round of 16 final that Athletic played on Thursday, and that Getafe played on Wednesday in Portugalete, the mystery would be unravelled by the response of both teams with regards to the demands of our rival and of the state of the pitch during a wet and rainy evening match. Nine starting line up players from the match against Alcorcón were in today’s line up, with the only novelties being Koikili who stepped in for Castillo and Muniain who took Gabilondo’s place. Getafe, on the contrary, only had five of their starting eleven players from their match in Portugalete. Nevertheless, as far as our squad was concerned, the team’s weariness was not evident, neither throughout the match, nor when it came to Athletic’s intentions in the clash, a mix of daring, consistency, determination, pace and pressure.

What’s more, despite the fact that these encounters in recent years have been marred by poor results despite good play (0-1 and 2-2 in the last two seasons), today Athletic were able to put the match on the right track very quickly. First with a great shot at goal by Iraola from outside the area thanks to the slippery state of the pitch and then later, thanks to a penalty committed against Muniain in the 10th minute, which is why Raga got at yellow card booking. Similar to the ones ruled against us a week ago in Seville and San José kicked it calmly and accurately.

Getafe woke up. Logically, it was impossible to maintain the devilish pace of the game without a break and without the rival trying to do something. Their first serious approach came in the 26th minute by means of a rapid counterblow that Ríos finished off with a line shot at goal that just missed. The match was like a watermelon to be savoured and eaten in big bites, Athletic wanted to score the third goal and Getafe wanted to get into the match. In what was to follow, Toquero was unable to make the most of a goalscoring opportunity in 31st minute following a deep pass from Susaeta, neither could Getafe in the 34th, seeing that Gorka Iraizoz stole the ball from Colunga’s very own feet. It’s clear that their opportunity to get back into it had been wasted and in the home stretch of the first half, Athletic Club once again felt dominant and were dominant. Llorente, despite being grabbed, took a shot at goal in the 38th minute with a header but it went out. Almost towards the end, the referee showed yellow cards to Pintos, for holding Muniain back and to Boateng for displacing the fast forward. Susaeta, by means of a direct kick, brought about the last OH! in the stands at San Mamés, but Codino was able to send it to corner. In light of the second half Michel sent Casquero in to replace Sánchez with the vigorous aim of reinforcing the midfield area, where Athletic were in charge.

As a result of our previous matches there were some doubts floating in the air as to whether our team were going to be able to maintain the same pace as that of the first half and to have their cake and eat it too without too many frights. The truth is that this time at least they passed the test with honours. Moreover, the Red-Whites were the ones who were looking for the rival goalmouth form the very first moment. Toquero’s header went high in the 46th minute and though Getafe were trying to take control, our team knew where to position themselves vertically. The list is eloquent: a good play in the 53rd minute between Muniain and Koikili that ended with a Llorente header that missed, a shot at goal by Javi Martínez that was cleared to corner by a defender; a much clearer penalty than the one against Muniain; Llorente was brought to the ground by Cata Díaz, but having been witness to two penalties in the one match, and both in our favour was too much, like some kind of luxury.

De Marcos stepped in for Susaeta in the 62nd minute and the trend of the match continued its course. A firm Athletic in defence, they were calm and very vertical. A Muniain kick was caught by Codina, Llorente was unable to get there in time to push and thus finish off De Marcos’s centre pass, and the one who had centred the ball took a shot at goal that went high after having intercepted a pass from Muniain and after the rebound had struck a defender.

Call it inertia, Getafe were bound to do something, albeit substitutions. And no sooner had Arizmendi replaced Ríos was his pass to centre finished off by Colunga with a header and Iraizoz’s intervention made it clear that the goalie’s concentration was in line with that of the whole team. With only twenty minutes left to go Miku stepped in for Nano and David Lopéz in for Toquero. The newcomer to the field positioned himself on the left wing and Muniain moved closer to the centre.

On the other hand, Getafe were rounding up their troops in the offence department and Albín led a couple of raids with certain risk for Iraizoz, in the first one he could not connect the shot at goal and in the second one he came close to scoring after having received a gift from San José. In spite of everything the third local goal was more likely than that of the visitors’ first because Athletic were causing a lot of damage in the counterattack department. Muniain finished off a drop kick by Llorente but missed and as he was both sore and exhausted he was replaced by Gabilondo. The substitution was useful again to reorganize the format: Gabilondo to the left, David Lopéz to the right and De Marcos as the second forward. Albín gave Iraizoz a workout by means of direct kick and just as suspected, apart from the rain, mission accomplished in the 82nd minute following a good pass by David Lopéz to Gabilondo, who with the left had scored his fourth goal in the present League competition and besides its aesthetic value it was enough for us to win.

Thirteen points achieved with more than enough merit and with no goals being scored against us in this match, despite Miku’s last minute attempt when finishing off Colunga’s pass during injury time. And now it’s time to win as visitors in order to look ahead, the next two away games are against teams not to be messed with, it would be a good idea to turn San Mamés into a fortress and demonstrate, incidentally, Athletic’s main virtues.

The Athletic Club line up: Iraizoz; Iraola, San Jose, Ustaritz, Koikili; Susaeta, Gurpegi, Javi Martinez, Muniain; Toquero and Llorente. On the bench: Raul, David Lopez, De Marcos, Gabilondo, Orbaiz, Ion Velez and Aurtenetxe. Balenziaga, Iñigo Perez, Castillo and Iturraspe were not called up.

The Getafe line up: Codina; Pintos, Cata Díaz, Rafa, Marcano; Boateng, Victor Sánchez; A.J. Ríos, Albin, Manu and Colunga. On the bench: Ustari, Ibrahim, Borja, Miku, Arizmendi, Mosquera and Casquero.

Refereed by Estrada Fernandez, with Esquerdo and Borras as linesmen.