Athletic Club - Girona FC
Matchday 23
Liga

Athletic Club - Girona FC

Athletic Club
Athletic Club
23
Girona FC
Girona FC
  • 35' Yuri
  • 89' Raúl García
  • Aleix García 4'
  • De Marcos (Key not found (generic.pp)) 19'
  • Vesga (Key not found (generic.pp)) 45'

LocationSan Mamés , Bilbao

42.816 assistants

Luckless defeat against Girona

Two own goals, a disallowed goal for Iñaki and injuries to Simón and Morcillo led to a 2-3 defeat for Los Leones

In an afternoon to forget, and one full of misfortune, Athletic Cluib lost 2-3 against Girona FC. Ernesto Valverde's side could not have had a more unlucky defeat.

Two of their three goals against them came via unfortunate own goals from Oscar De Marcos and Mikel Vesga, Iñaki Williams had a goal controversially disallowed and, to make matters worse, Unai Simón and Jon Morcillo went off injured, the latter leaving the Lion down to ten men for the final stretch of the game as Valverde had made all his changes.

Athletic were already without Nico Williams with a sprained knee ligament, and things got even worse when Aleix Garcia scored a brilliant goal in the fourth minute. Simon had to be called into action with a great save to stop Castellanos at close-range effort after a dangerous loss in the box, but he could do nothing in the following play, when the Girona striker's header hit De Marcos before crossing the line.

Everything was stacked against Athletic, but they did not give up. Alex Berenguer threatened Gazzaniga with a free-kick that the keeper turned behind for a corner. Then came the controversial moment of the match. Aitor Paredes flicked the ball on to Iñaki Williams, who scored at the far post. It was disallowed for offside, even though the images seem to suggest it should have stood.

Nonetheless, Los Rojiblancos got back into the game when Yuri Berchiche struck with a great left-footed shot from outside the box after a strategic corner routine. It was the 34th minute, the entire game was left to play for. The last piece of bad luck, with Unai Simón having already picked up a knock, came just before the break. Aleix García took a free-kick, Yeray deflected the ball, it bounced off Vesga and went in.

Luck was not on Los Leones' side but Julen Agirrezabala, now on the pitch for Simon, kept them in the game with a good save from Riquelme. Iñaki Williams and Berenguer had their chances against a Girona side that was only defending and had a hard time despite Morcillo's injury giving them numerical superiority. Raúl García made it 2-3 and the striker, with a hurt shoulder, had the chance to equalise with a final header.

There is no time for regrets. On Wednesday we face Osasuna in in the first leg of the Copa semi-final. We must recover from this tough defeat as soon as possible