Athletic won at the Pizjuán and spoiled the debut of Quique Sanchez Flores in their new stadium in a match marked by the absence of the two starting forwards of the two teams: Iñaki Williams and En Nesyri, already concentrated with their teams for the Copa de Africa, where they can be until February 11.
The victory of the lions was not a surprise, as they are in much better dynamics and have already gone six games without losing, five in the League and one in the Cup. Valverde’s Athletic is always faithful to its style, whether it plays in San Mamés or away. . He comes out at full speed and his energy was uncontrollable for a Sevilla team with many doubts, which allowed itself to have Rakitic on the bench and opted for Rafa Mir as a nine, a player who had not been a starter since September.
From very early on, Nico Williams revealed himself to be a nightmare for the Sevilla defense, in which Sergio Ramos brought some order and avoided major evils with a couple of cuts. Athletic’s high pressure led them to always be close to the goal. In the 23rd minute Dmitrovic prevented the goal from a shot by Guruzeta and two minutes later the youngest of the Williams would miss a goal called into an empty net.
The goal that was expected to come finally arrived at thirty minutes in a play started by Nico Williams and which passed through a cross into the area by Ruiz de Galarreta and a header from Mikel Vesga into the top corner, his third goal in the League.
To further complicate matters for Sevilla, in the 37th minute Gudelj was injured when he fell badly and sprained his ankle. Quique reorganized the midfield by starting Rakitic, but the first half ended with his fans whistling at the Sevilla players as they retired to the locker room.
The second half began with a triple chance for Athletic, including a shot by Nico Williams against the crossbar. After the first ten minutes, Sevilla grew somewhat when they saw the score and saw themselves still alive, which seemed nothing short of a miracle.
Sevilla made a triple change in the 65th minute and Quique put Óliver Torres, Nianzou and Januzaj on to play to consolidate their dominance and take advantage of their best minutes. Ander Herrera and Beñat Prados were Valverde’s answer to balance the midfield.
In the midst of Sevilla’s harassment in the 76th minute, Athletic’s second came in a lateral foul that led to a second cross into the area by Ander Herrera and a shot with the foot of Paredes from point-blank range that no one detected.
Athletic’s second goal killed the rest of the game. The stands began to empty and Valverde’s team controlled the game and let the minutes pass with Sevilla already resigned to their fate.
