La Liga: Athletic Club recovers a 0-1 deficit to overcome Espanyol 2-1

BILBAO. Athletic Club found a way to turn the table against Espanyol to win 2-1.

BILBAO. Athletic Club succeeded in turn the table against Espanyol to win 2-1. All goals were scored in the first half.​ It was Espanyol to strike first with an early goal of T. Vilhena at the 3′. Then it was a goal in the 5′ minute to make things even for 1-1. Eventually, I. Martinez gave the win to Athletic Club in the 16′ minute with a goal.

The match was played at the San Mamés Barria stadium in Bilbao on Monday and it started at 9:00 pm local time. In the presence of 30,753 spectators.​ The referee was César Soto Grado who had the assistance of Guadalupe Porras Ayuso and Miguel Martínez Munuera. The 4th official was Álvaro López Parra. The weather was cloudy. The temperature was cold around 10.1 degrees Celsius or 50.23 Fahrenheit. Humidity was up to 84%.​

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  Athletic Club

  2

  

  Espanyol

  1

  7 Feb 2022 Full time

Match Statistics

There wasn’t much of a difference in ball possession. Athletic Club was in possession of the ball for 46% of the time vs. Espanyol that controlled the ball for 54% of the time.

Espanyol was more aggressive with 49 dangerous attacks and 7 shots of which 4 were on target. Nonetheless, Athletic Club was able to find the solution to win this contest.​

Athletic Club shot 8 times, 6 on target, 2 off target. On the other side, Espanyol shot 7 times, 4 on target, 3 off target.

Cards

Athletic Club received 3 yellow cards (I. Martinez, M. Vesga and A. Petxa). On the other side, Espanyol received 2 yellow cards (M. Morlanes and O. Gil).

After playing this match, Athletic Club will have 31 points like Rayo Vallecano to stay in the 8th place. On the other side, Espanyol will stay with 27 points to stay in the 13th place.

Match Events

Next match

In the upcoming La Liga match, Athletic Club will play away against Mallorca on the 14th of February with a 12-4 head to head stats in favor of Athletic Club (7 draws).

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  Mallorca

  3

  

  Athletic Club

  2

  14 Feb 2022 Full time

Espanyol will host FC Barcelona on the 13th of February with a 25-3 head to head in favor of FC Barcelona (9 draws).

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  Espanyol

  2

  

  FC Barcelona

  2

  

  13 Feb 2022 Full time

Athletic Club: Formation and Lineups

Athletic Club started with a conservative line-up (4-4-2).

The manager Marcelino García Toral chose to play with the following team: Unai Simón (6.7), Íñigo Lekue (6.6), Daniel Vivian (7.1), Iñigo Martínez (7.3), Mikel Balenziaga (6.8), Álex Berenguer (6.8), Oier Zarraga (6.6), Dani García (6.2), Nico Serrano (6.8), Oihan Sancet (7.3) and Raúl García (7.4).

Athletic Club could not rely on the presence of I. Williams (injured).

Substitutes

Athletic Club made 5 changes: D. Garcia for M. Vesga (58′), R. Garcia for I. Williams (64′), A. Berenguer for A. Petxa (64′), N. Serrano for I. Muniain (72′) and O. Sancet for A. Villalibre (72′).

Top player: Raúl García

Probably the most impressive player in Athletic Club was Raúl García even if he didn’t score any goal.

His rating is (7.4) with 27 passes (66% accurate) and 3 key passes. He was won 3 duels out of 6. He performed 1 cross.

Espanyol: Formation and Lineups

Espanyol started with a 4-2-3-1 line-up (4-2-3-1).

On the other side, Vicente Moreno Peris played with: Diego López (6.6), Óscar Gil (6.0), Sergi Gómez (6.5), Leandro Cabrera (7.0), Adrià Pedrosa (6.7), Manuel Morlanes (7.1), Sergi Darder (7.3), Óscar Melendo (7.2), Javi Puado (7.1), Tonny Vilhena (7.8) and Landry Dimata (6.1).

Substitutes

Espanyol made 5 changes: L. Dimata for L. Moron (63′), S. Gomez for D. Lopez (63′), O. Melendo for A. Embarba (63′), M. Morlanes for Y. Herrera (75′) and T. Vilhena for Wu Lei (75′).

Top player: Tonny Vilhena

The player who no doubt impressed Espanyol the most was Tonny Vilhena.

His rating is (7.8) with 1 goal, 33 passes (66% accurate) and 1 key pass. He was won 5 duels out of 7. He performed 5 crosses.