Only three days had passed since that unfortunate night at Mestalla in which the Cup ended abruptly for Valencia. The fans feared that their team would blame the blow. But the Valencia eleven knew how to stay on its feet during the abundant minutes in which Athletic dominated them with their elegant football and took advantage of a genius from Gayá and a goal from Hugo Duro, another one, to recover and add a victory that is the fourth in a row for Rubén Baraja’s team, a coach who does not receive signings, but who finds them at home. First in the quarry, with that army of young people that he has been incorporating, and then betting heavily on Hugo Duro, who has become a very solvent scorer this season. He already has nine.
1
Mamardashvili, Foulquier, Cristhian Ibarguen, Gayá, Gabriel Paulista, Pepelu, Hugo Guillamón, Francisco Martinez (Thierry Correia, min. 69), Sergi Canos (Yaremchuk, min. 13), Hugo Duro and Diego López (Vazquez Alcalde, min. 82 )
0
Unai Simón, Lekue, Daniel Vivian, Aitor Paredes, Yuri, O. Sancet (Raúl García, min. 79), Benat Prados (Unai Gómez, min. 68), Nico Williams (Malcom Adu, min. 78), Ander Herrera ( Ruiz de Galarreta, min. 62), Berenguer and Guruzeta (Villalibre, min. 68)
Goals 1-0 min. 61: Hugo Duro.
Referee Juan Luis Pulido Santana
Yellow cards Nico Williams (min. 55), Daniel Vivian (min. 89) y Malcom Adu (min. 91)
Athletic jumped to Mestalla this Saturday as if it were in San Mamés. The ball was his and the triangulations allowed him to get around Valencia’s defensive fabric. Almost automated mechanisms. Even so, the first dangerous play was led by Canós with a deep pass into the area and a less accurate subsequent shot. The Nules winger came out convinced that it might be his followingnoon. But his nerve lasted 12 minutes. After a start he fell to the ground. Some muscle discomfort forced him to give way to Yaremchuk.
The party, until then, had become pendulum. Valencia’s verticality gave a boost to the lions’ dominance. Three passes and run. But Athletic continued doing its thing. At the touch, seeking superiority in each area of the field, giving a lane to Nico Williams so that he might take advantage of his speed, although he ran into a Foulquier who held his hand. Baraja’s eleven accused the speed march. He no longer knew how to be deep and the coach from Valladolid tried changing the wing to Fran Pérez, a player who has a hard time choosing the best option on the last pass.
Pepelu stepped forward to support his team. Beñat Prados, in front, was ahead of the plays. He watched football with magnifying glasses. He moved the ball judiciously and on a pass into the box he left Williams face to face with Mamardashvili. An unbeatable chance to break the tie, but the puppy resolved it with a very easy shot for the goalkeeper.
The Athletic players were always in the right place, and that was eroding a Valencia that was becoming small. There was no debate in the stands, where it was easy to distinguish many red and white shirts and even some hat. Ernesto Valverde’s team knows very well what they are doing. That has been his argument to reach third place in the League. While his opponent showed an increasingly brief repertoire.
The locals decided to make the game ugly, to hinder it, to cut off Athletic’s rhythm. And so they avoided reaching the break from behind. The lions, who are more than confident following fourteen games, ten in the League, without losing, lacked that extra point in the last few meters to capture that superiority. The goal was missing.
After the break, Athletic came out more directly and following another play with Valverde’s tag, Sancet adjusted a shot from inside the area that went just past the post. It took the Bilbao team three minutes to announce that they were not going to take any detours.
Valencia entrusted itself to the internships of Diego López, a player who knows how to find Hugo Duro, who until then was too lonely. He wasn’t going to feel like this anymore. At the hour mark, José Luis Gayá made a telescopic pass from the left wing that the black and white striker, rising above Yuri, headed into goal. His nine goals this season are the same as he had scored in his entire career in the First Division. The young people would say that he is in his prime. Because the man from Madrid is living his best moment and is scoring goals that are gradually pushing his team towards Europe.
Valverde moved the pieces on the board and added more gunpowder with Villalibre and Unai. But Valencia was in one of those days in which, pushed by its 45,000 fans, it puts so much effort into it that it is very difficult to break. The changes gave more bite and Mamardashvili avoided the tie following a hard shot from Unai Gómez.