Athletic is still in the Cup after flirting with the elimination against a bold Tenerife

  • The Garitano win the Canaries on penalties after the final 3-3
Photo: EFE

A dumbfounded Athletic Club continues in the Copa del Rey after flirting with the elimination before a bold Tenerife, who says goodbye to it after a notable participation when falling into the penalty shootout.

The presence in the Heliodoro of a historical such as Athletic intimidated enough to fear the worst, but what could never be foreshadowed, not even the Bilbao team itself, was that it had such an unfortunate and unprecedented start, that not only stunned their own players but also to Tenerife.

Only a minute of play had elapsed when Moore, a meter from the area, received a hard tackle from the Herrerín goal in his desperate start, an action sanctioned with the expulsion of the Basque goal, while, in a row, the launch of Luis's foul Milla touched Williams, inside the area, with one of her hands.

In this way, the referee, after the pertinent consultation of the VAR, punishable the lack of the attacker, Joselu was responsible for scoring from the fateful point in minute seven, while at the edge of the first quarter of an hour a Yuri center Raúl García nodded for a timely Williams to score the tie with his chest.

But when the Biscayan cadre seemed to be replaced by his initial misfortune, with the score again matched and also with a conscientious control of his rival, another bloody and devastating mood blow arrived.

This time it was Elliot who, within the area, got rid of several rival defenders and, from the left, focused on the penalty spot so that Yuri, in his eagerness to clear the ball, left him at the feet of an outstanding Joselu, that with a dry shot he scored his second goal.

After the resumption, a poisoned launch of Lekue from the front deflected Ortolá to corner, but in the second attempt Bilbao was successful, although with the close collaboration of Milla, who after missing a pass in the 53rd minute, left the ball at the mercy of Williams for the striker to face the area and beat Ortolá with a low shot.

This new balance in the scoreboard led to a much more open clash, now with repeated arrivals in the respective areas, and with the occasional occasion, such as a Joselú heel in the 78th minute that Ezkieta successfully resolved, ending this danger until concluding this second part.

The tie forced the dispute of the mandatory extension, an added time in which both teams continued to insist on decanting their respective colors, but hardly shooting at the door, until a penetration in the Nahuel area ended with a demolition of Lekue and with the consequent penalty, which this time transformed Dani Gomez in the 105th minute.

But two minutes to the end of the extension, Yuri neutralized the local advantage with a shot from outside the area that ended up in the net to force the penalties.

Data sheet:

3. CD Tenerife: Ortolá; Luis Pérez, Carlos Ruiz, Sipcic, Alex Muñoz (Nahuel, m.75); Moore, Luis Milla, Undabarrena (Dani Gómez, m.93), Javi Alonso (Aitor Sanz, m.66); Elliot (Lasure, m.50) and Joselu.

3. Athletic Club: Blacksmith; Lekue (Capa, m.106), Yeray, Unai Nuñez (Ezkieta, m.4), Íñigo Martínez, Yuri; Muniain, Dani García, Unai López (Vesga, m.82); Williams (Villalibre, m.95) and Raúl García.

Goals: 1-0, M.7: Joselu. 1-1, M.16: Williams. 2-1, M.20: Joselu. 2-2, M.53: Williams. 3-2, M.105: Dani Gómez. 3-3, M.117: Yuri.

In the penalty shootout (2-4) Aitor Sanz and Nahuel scored for Tenerife, and Raúl García, Muniain, Vesga and Villalibre for Athletic Club.

Referee: Pablo González Fuertes (Asturian Territorial Committee). He drove Herrerín (m.1) with a direct red for knocking Moore out of the area and Carlos Ruiz (m.93) for a yellow card, in addition, he admonished the Undabarrena (m.21), Alex Muñoz (m .31), Moore (m.91) and Ortolá (m.115), and visitors Williams (m.6), Dani García (m.37), to coach Gaizka Garitano (m.65), Raúl García (m .75), Yuri (m.91) and Íñigo Martínez (m.98).

Incidents: Round of 16 match of S.M. Cup the King played in the Heliodoro Rodríguez López stadium before 17,484 spectators. In the ninth minute of the game the public cheered the name of the visitor Williams for the recent racist insults received in Cornellá, Barcelona.