Athletic Club beats Getafe in LaLiga and gets a place in the Champions League
The Lions celebrate qualification for the Champions League with two goals from Guruzeta and Vivian in a match in which there were no shots on goal for more than an hour.
Athletic Club hurt Getafe in a match that took an hour to find a shot on goal. Guruzeta scored on the Lions’ second attempt with just over fifteen minutes left, and Vivian added: ” The game up until Guruzeta’s goal had been like eating a polvorones sandwich because finding a desperate attack from either side seemed impossible. Athletic Club’s goal gave the game an unfamiliar edge because during that brief moment, the spark and the uncertainty about the outcome surfaced.
Getafe’s adjustment made Athletic Club’s play very difficult to manage in the first half. The Lions didn’t have a game that excited them, although they responded to Getafe’s demands. The two best chances in the first half came from plays that didn’t lead to a finish . Getafe were reminded of a weak, wide shot from Arambarri when Simón was exhausted due to his poor timing, and Athletic Club lamented a shot from Guruzeta that went too far. The Getafe native also dared to take a long-range shot in the 43rd minute to try to surprise Simón, who was out of range.
In the first half, Athletic Bilbao’s players appealed for a penalty for Alderete’s handball in a dispute with Berenguer , but neither Cuadra Fernández nor the VAR ruled that way. They ruled that the ball bounced off the player’s face.
Another game, very short
A pass from Vesga to Guruzeta, who finished as it came, was the first attempt in a second half that, despite everything, continued like the first: no shots on target. With the hour mark approaching, still far from a goal, Rico chipped Gorosabel in the box. If Cuadra hadn’t called Alderete’s handball, he wouldn’t have done much for a loose ball.On a winter night, what happened at the Coliseum wouldn’t have happened… because, given the cold, the spectators might have opted to leave early. Guruzeta erased the horror, and he was one of those who tried hardest. The San Sebastian native recovered his taste for celebrating , something he hadn’t done since February.
Getafe made a show of stretching the ball , and Athletic moved closer to Soria’s penalty area because they were taking advantage of the gap between their lines. Vivian scored from one of the corners that followed Athletic’s break to keep Athletic in the hunt for fourth place. Getafe, on the other hand, has now lost six consecutive matches.
