While advancing steadily in the Cup and dreaming of reaching its fourth final in the last 11 years, Athletic is undone in the League. A bipolar behavior that finds no simple explanation, but is unquestionable. There are already nine consecutive days in which the Garitano team does not add three points. The last one to fish in Athletic's scrambled river was Osasuna, who took the three points of San Mamés on Sunday with very little attack. It was enough with a goal from Oier , his captain, in ball action stopped in the first half. He hardly produced the Navarrese painting, but he didn't need it either.

He convinced, yes, the Jagoba Arrasate team in their defensive work, no matter how much they did not find an excessive demand. Athletic was a flat and ramble team, predictable to the extreme, and again penalized for the debatable management of the changes made by their coach. Nor was the Bilbao team satisfied with the arbitration work and perhaps he was right, especially for a hand of Unai García in the area that seemed a penalty. Athletic did not deserve to lose the game, because it made occasions to at least tie it, but again it was left with the desire and see how the European train escapes to seven points that could still be 10, at the expense of the Eibar-Real Sociedad aplzado.

It was good, despite what was said, the staging of Athletic, with ten initial minutes in which it surpassed Osasuna thanks to the presence of Yuri and Capa in advanced positions and its combination with the strikers, especially with Villalibre , who enjoyed A good occasion from the front. The rojiblancos, however, quickly fell apart, heavily penalized by the absence of a creative midfielder. Without Muniain or Unai López , the core was a black hole in which neither Vesga nor Raúl García gave continuity to the game. Neither the debutante Victor, mediocentro by the sanction of Dani García , but that is not his function.

The comfort of Osasuna

The game became a succession of inconsequential possessions of both teams, a scenario in which Osasuna was very comfortable. Arrasate's bet, with a five-man defense, was to keep the game at a low pace and wait for some isolated opportunity. The approach was successful when, at half an hour, a frontal foul terribly defended by Athletic ended up in Oier's goal after a great stop from Simon to Brasanac .

Shortly after, Williams introduced the ball into the goal of Herrera , but the referee understood that Raúl García committed a foul on the goalkeeper. Less understandable was the decision to, already in the second half, ignore a hand of Unai Garcia in his own area. The ball clearly hit the defender's arm, but neither the referee nor the VAR considered it deserved a penalty. At the very least, and being generous, a moot decision.

By then, Garitano had already moved the tree, giving entry to the young Sancet to gain mobility in the center of the field. The sacrificed was Villalibre instead of a Raúl García who shouts for rest and who, finally, was replaced by Aduriz . Athletic was very dominating throughout the second half, but he found a very well planted Osasuna. Garitano's team generated more frustration than football, in fact.

In spite of everything, he enjoyed four frank occasions: a direct foul by Vencedor that bounced off the barrier and hit the crossbar, an innocent header from Williams tacked by Herrera, a Capa shot also saved by the goalkeeper and, already at the discount , a stub by Aduriz at the base of the stick. His ineffectiveness in the face of goal, written remains, returned to be a drag for an Athletic who gave Osasuna the three points and, incidentally, half permanence.

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  • Raul Garcia
  • Williams
  • Athletic Bilbao
  • CA Osasuna

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