LaLiga Santander 2020 – 2021
The Navarrese winger scores his fifth goal in five games and gives Athletic a long-suffering victory against Granada
The match had been complicated for Athletic, who after having opened the scoreboard in the third minute through Villalibre, received a tie from Jorge Molina with 12 minutes left. Then Marcelino looked at the stands, saw Berenguer and said “fix it.” And the Navarrese, in just seven minutes, with the match already in the discount, invented a whiplash for his team to add three points. He has already scored five goals in the last five games, including the one to qualify for the Cup final. Pletrico is little.
Berenguer rescued Athletic from the spiral of draws to one in which it was submerged, a result that had been repeated in the 90 minutes in six of its last seven games. It was not reckless to imagine these weeks Marcelino Garca Toral startled in the middle of the night because a 1-1 had crept into his brain in the form of a nightmare. And this Sunday in the band again thinking that he was not going to be able to get rid of that curse that tormented him. Her fittest man finally granted her a peaceful night in League.
The match was a challenge for Athletic’s substitute block. Marcelino had already pulled him in the first rounds of Cups against Ibiza and Alcoyano and in both cases he had to intervene at halftime with several changes to avoid disaster. The massive rotation (only Simn and Nez repeated, who only played 45 minutes) was a risk, but the rojiblanco coach understood that he had no other choice after 120 minutes of wear and tear against Levante and with the visit to Wanda postponed by ‘Filomena’ next Wednesday. And with a Cup final in less than a month, which discourages risking the physical of the players.
The doubts seemed to dissipate immediately, with a good start for the locals transformed into a goal after three minutes. Sancet, much more active than in his previous appearances, looked for Villalibre in the area with a low pass and Gernika’s ‘Bfalo’ turned on Germ and then shot Rui Silva. The scorer’s first 15 minutes were memorable, offering a clini on how a center forward should play. The penalty for Athletic was that, like the rest of the team, it faded as the timer advanced.
Despite the fact that Granada was taking the temperature of the game, Marcelino’s men did not suffer, with Morcillo and Lekue mixing well on the left wing and with Balenziaga fully complying as an improvised left central, a position practically untouched in his long career. From this Sunday, a resource more than interesting for Marcelino. Of Ibai, very gray and falln, the same cannot be said.
The second half continued with a very similar pattern, perhaps with Granada dominating something else, but without the ability to put together dangerous plays that would disturb Athletic, beyond a header from Germn at the exit of a corner. The departure of Ral Garca reactivated Athletic, which enjoyed a missed opportunity by Villalibre after a great pass into space from Navarre and, above all, a penalty. Kenedy was late to a dispute with Vencedor and Ral Garca prepared to sentence the duel. Rui Silva, however, denied him happiness.
Ah, the Granada understood that he had to go to the death if he wanted to take something from San Mams. I risked more and found the award thanks to Jorge Molina. Puertas left Capa sitting (literally) and the veteran battering ram took advantage of his partner’s center with a head. The demons of 1-1 reappeared to Athletic until Berenguer came out to invent an unstoppable whiplash in the discount that gives his team a victory that allows him to get hooked on the fight for Europe.
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