Athletic Bilbao dominates Rayo Vallecano and is provisionally on the podium
Mostly dominating but jostled intermittently, Athletic Bilbao pocketed the three points on Saturday against Rayo Vallecano (3-2) during the sixth day of La Liga and temporarily settled on the podium three points behind FC Barcelona, current leader while waiting for the Madrid derby on Sunday (9 p.m.). Despite Oscar Trejo opening the score on a very good job from Sergio Camello (5th, 0-1), the Basque club reacted quickly to reverse the trend and secure a victory before the break.
Launched in depth by Dani Garcia, Inaki Williams deposited Florian Lejeune, before equalizing by deceiving Stole Dimitrievski at the near post (15th, 1-1). After a good deflection, Alex Berenguer found the ball to the side and crossed back. Oihan Sancet concluded with the flat right foot (29th, 2-1). Still overtaken, by Neco Williams this time, Florian Lejeune saw the Spaniard appear alone against his goalkeeper and worsen the score (34th, 3-1). Inaki Williams thought he would score his team’s fourth goal with a lob (36th), but he left in an illegal position.
Isi Palazion, Rayo’s playmaker, failed to break through the Basque defense. His long shot crashed on the crossbar (19th) and his decisive pass was canceled for an offside by striker Sergio Camello (64th). After having multiplied the attacks repelled by Stole Dimitrievski (50th, 59th, 78th), the Basques were scared at the end of the match. Barely entering the game, Radamel Falcao reduced the gap (80th, 3-2), but that was not enough for Vallecano to snatch the draw.
