By: EFE
The Athletic Club turned the scoreboard around in three minutes with goals from Yeray and Nico Williams to beat Atlético de Madri by 1-2 and qualify for the final of the Spanish Super Cup , annulling the initial goal of the colchoneros that he scored Unai Simón own goal after a shot by Joao Félix.
Thus, the Athletic Club, the current champion of the Spanish Super Cup, will play on Sunday at the same venue, the King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), the final against Real Madrid, whom they defeated in the semifinals of the previous edition.
The meeting started misleadingly, fueling expectations that were not fulfilled until the final stretch. Already in the first action of the match, Atlético surprised Athletic and Joao Félix beat Unai Simón when only a dozen seconds had been disputed. But the goal was annulled due to a slight offside by the Portuguese.
The duo formed by Joao Félix and Ángel Correa, who left Luis Suárez and Matheus Cunha on the starting bench, came out very focused and in minute 5 it was the Argentine who was about to opened the scoring with a shot from inside the area that went to a corner.
Athletic also wanted to say theirs during the intense start and a volley shot by Iñaki Williams after a pass overlooked by Oihan Sancet crashed into Jan Oblak when the practically 10.000 People who were at the King Fahd International Stadium were already singing the goal.
The low influx of public led to the installation of advertising banners and the atmosphere was much more soulless than the other week ifinal, the ‘clásico’ played this Wednesday in the same venue.
As quickly as the match accelerated, it fell asleep at the halfway point of the first half. The plot moved to the center of the field, where Marcelino Toral chose Oier Zarraga to replace the injured Unai Vencedor
There was no other scoring opportunity until minute 40, when Geoffrey Kondogbia was not up to the task of Yannick Carrasco’s personal move down Atlético’s left flank, the one defended by Óscar de Marcos. The low shot by the French midfielder from the edge of the area was saved without any problems by Unai Simón.
Al ‘Cholo’ Simeone He didn’t like what he was seeing and at the break he gave entrance to Renan Lodi, which was controversial this Thursday after the statements of the Brazilian coach ‘Tite’ explaining that he did not call him because he did not have a complete vaccination schedule for the coronavirus. Shortly after, he would also introduce Rodrigo de Paul.
And, although the script continued lazy, an unfortunate action by Unai Simón at the minute 40, who first did not reach a weak header with his stretch by Joao Félix after a corner kick and then saw how the ball crashed into his back after hitting the right post, making it 1-0 for the Atlético de Madrid.
In the next play, Athletic Club could have equalized in another corner action, but the header by Íñigo Martínez was too focused and found Oblak’s body above the goal line, who later also cleared a powerful volley from Iñaki Williams.
Instead, nothing could do at the minute 76, when he had just reappeared on the field of play Yuri Berchiche after his injury, before Yeray’s unstoppable header after another corner. Atlético collapsed upon receiving the equalizer and on the following corner kick Nico Williams took advantage of a loose ball in the area to define by low and make the 1-2. The euphoria exploded in the Basque team.
The ‘Cholo’ Simeone team was unable to react to the two blows received and failed to create any scoring chances in the 10 remaining minutes. Thus, there will be no Madrid derby in the final and Athletic Club will have the opportunity to win their fourth Spanish Super Cup of history