The best version of Alavés so far this season helped them achieve a thunderous victory against one of the sensations at this start of the championship, Espanyol. The parakeet team, celebrating its 125th anniversary, has been very far from that version that has placed it as one of the best teams in the competition, which has cost it its fourth defeat of the season. We had to suffer until the end, but it was worth the suffering to savor a victory that has its weight in gold.
2
Antonio Sivera, Victor Parada, Youssef Enríquez (Carlos Protesoni, min. 85), Jonny, Nahuel Tenaglia, Denis Suárez (Pablo Ibáñez, min. 75), Antonio Blanco, Calebe (Carlos Vicente, min. 61), Carles Aleñá (Abde Rebbach, min. 60), Toni Martínez (Ander Guevara, min. 61) y Lucas Boyé
1
Marko Dmitrovic, Leandro Cabrera, Rubén Sánchez (Omar El Hilali, min. 69), Clemens Riedel, Carlos Romero, Antoniu Roca (Tyrhys Dolan, min. 45), Edu Expósito, Jofre Carreras (Roberto Fernández, min. 45), Pol Lozano (Urko González de Zárate, min. 79), Kike García (Ramon Terrats, min. 61) and Pere Milla
Goals
1-0 min. 4: Denis Suárez. 2-0 min. 39: Lucas Boyé. 2-1 min. 55: Roberto Fernández
Referee Guillermo Cuadra Fernandez
yellow cards
Lucas this (min. 34), Denis Suárez (1min
red cards
Lucas Boyé (min. 90)
Very soon the Alava team began to cement its victory. Barely five minutes of the game had been played and Alavés had already taken the lead. It was a seen and unseen with Denis Suárez as the protagonist. It was the first dangerous action by the local team. Carlos Aleñá put the ball in the center of the area and there, completely alone, the Galician footballer arrived to put the ball away from Dmtrovic. Alavés, far from settling, continued looking for the Serbian goalkeeper’s goal. Lucas Boyé, on his first attempt, ran into the Espanyol goalkeeper. The reward for persistence came in the final stretch of the first half, again with the Argentine striker as the protagonist.
He stewed it and he ate it. He won the game against Rubén Sánchez, making it 2-0 with a low shot against which Dmitrovic could do nothing. It was the award for the best version of the season for an Alavés team that was far superior to an Espanyol team that showed no signs of life. Manolo González’s face of resignation was the true reflection of a team without soul, far from its best version. The reaction came after the restart with Roberto Fernández’s header, but it was a mirage. He never felt comfortable on the green of Mendizorroza.
Carlos Vicente, first, and Abde Rebbach later, had the chance to make the difference greater and for tranquility to settle in the stands of the albiazul sanctuary, but they did not succeed. The first failed when he had everything in his favor against Dmtrovic. He just had to push her, but he didn’t get the shot right. The ball bounced just before the execution, something that worked against him. Abde, on the other hand, ran into the stick. Desperate on the ground, the Alava footballer could not believe the wasted opportunity.
A few minutes before that last dangerous action, all of Espanyol called for a penalty on Dolan, but Cuadra Fernández, far from pointing out the fateful spot, admonished the Espanyol footballer for simulation and also admonished Omar for protesting the action. Manolo González, on the wing, didn’t believe it. Espanyol insisted until the end, so much so that the prize could have come in the last play, but neither Edu Expósito nor Terrats reached the extended ball by Cabrera. The tension was evident in the stands. The referee’s final whistle was a breath of fresh air for an Alavés team that was taking a breather against an Espanyol team that never found itself.
