Athletic pardons Osasuna and leaves the European zone

MADRID, 9 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) –

Athletic Club has not been able to recover its European place after drawing this Monday, in the last game of the sixteenth day of LaLiga Santander, against Osasuna in San Mamés (0-0), in which they enjoyed the clearest chances but in the one who failed to finish off an surpassed rival.

After a minute of applause in the emotional tribute to the recently deceased Txetxu Rojo, the Bilbao team came out to bite and warned in the first minutes with a failed shot by Guruzeta. After a quarter of an hour, Aitor Fernández thwarted a dangerous pass from De Marcos to Sancet, before San Mamés called for a penalty for a possible foul by Abde in the area that the referee decided was not worth a maximum penalty.

Sancet, protagonist of the previous action, responded with a shot that went over the crossbar in the best minutes of Ernesto Valverde’s men. First Nico Williams, with an Olympic goal attempt, and then Nico Williams and, above all, Guruzeta, with a shot with almost no angle that forced the rojillo goalkeeper to shoot reflexes, besieged the visitor’s goal.

Already in the second half, in the 62nd minute, Melero López annulled Iñaki Williams somewhat for offside at the start of the action, and his brother Nico, ten minutes later, forgave a very clear chance by failing to connect successfully a shot.

The clearest of the Navarrese was made to wait until 89, when Unai Simón had to block a shot from Manu Sánchez. In this way, in Athletic he adds his second consecutive draw and remains with 26 points, two more than his rival this Monday -who links three days without winning- and one of the sixth place, now in the hands of Villarreal.