Lucas blows up Athletic – AS.com

Lucas Pérez, the most rebellious on the prairie, was the absolute agitator of a corseted game in which everyone seemed to toast the tie. His staging after the break was like a starting flag in a frantic race to bare the miseries of this Athletic in free fall. Not even the fresh irruption of Berenger removes the lions from a depressing dynamic. Williams and Muniain, their franchise players, are still in the catacombs and the group is limited to expecting some mischief from Raúl García, who knows the trade like nobody else and applies all the skills that these thousand years in football have given him. Not a shot between the three suits. There are too many players out of shape, or hardly any of them seem at a First level.

Ely, who else, the same as last year and in goal at the time, chose the Mendizorroza derby. Athletic is going to ask that his passport be withdrawn every time he has to travel to the Vitoriano stadium, where he has not won since 2003, with Heynckes. Machín began to dictate the party's speech from his blackboard. The 3-5-2 is flexible, the back line wins a piece without the ball, as Duarte delays his position. The problem is that with three centers, Garitano had Williams, his only tip, act as a windshield wiper, from one side to the other, who did not even know who to attend to when pressing.

Pons and Pina were infinitely superior to the rojiblanco midfield. The clash was very tactical. Athletic was getting further and further behind before that babazorro push. In the final stretch of the first half the game was balanced. The purpose until then had been to deactivate the opposite, play the tie and leave the weapons for the continuation. The lions finally managed to put coherence and show sparkles. Three crossed balls made the solid blue-white structure hesitate for a moment.

As everything had been pending for a 45-minute mini-game, whoever got the changes right had a lot to gain. And that was Machín, who put a Lucas who blew up the nondescript derby. The local intensity plus during the initial 15 minutes decanted the balance. The little attention from people like Núñez and Balenziaga was desperate.

The Galician striker first stole Núñez's portfolio (Really Athletic cannot reconsider its position and give in to this center-back who is going to screw up on goal per game?), Then he took advantage of a deep pass from Pina to stand before Simón, with the slight opposition from Núñez himself, and touch the goal; took the free kick from the goal; and finally he threw a pipe, yielded to Pons and he put in a precious pass for Joselu to finish off and force Unai Simón to save. Alavés came out of the dressing room much more dynamic and determined, although the derby was less vibrant than expected. No one was shirtless for the victory. At times, the goals looked like decorations put up by the town hall.

On the visiting side, Morcillo and Muniain entered through Sancet and Córdoba. In this case, the vitamin that came from the bench was minimal. El Glorious had an impact on throwing balls at Capa's back and having them fought one against one against Núñez. Berenguer was able to make his debut, as a right winger, but he hardly had time to touch the ball. Duarte made a major mistake and was erased with two yellow cards in half a minute, the second for putting his arm out against Raúl García instead of putting his body in and protecting the ball. If reaching the gates was a lunar journey, the lions felt like an adventure to Jupiter. The local team entrenched themselves with their valuable 1-0 and let Athletic deepen their crisis.