Real Betis secured a 1-0 victory over Athletic Club on Sunday afternoon, a crucial step towards European qualification for Los Verdiblancos.
Yet that doesn’t even begin to do justice to the dramatic two hours of football on show at the Benito Villamarin. Both sides started the match with intensity but without prioritising a conservative approach.
That meant that space was not hard to come by – or maybe Real Betis just made it look easy. Their waves of attack looked dangerous before the goal, but it was worth waiting for. A long-range exchange of passes between Nabil Fekir and Juan Miranda, interjected by some fine touches from the Frenchman, led to Miranda picking out Borja Iglesias at the back post.
Athletic Club were exploiting the space too though. Inaki Williams’ header flashed narrowly wide and the first half closed with enough from Athletic to spark optimism amongst their fans.
The second half carried on at much the same rhythm, with Sergio Canales joining Fekir on his entertaining dance around the pitch. Not to be outdone, Iker Muniain crafted a delightful nutmeg on Marc Bartra which nearly precipitated the equaliser.
That @IkerMuniain10 nutmeg… 🥜#RealBetisAthletic is LIVE on #LaLigaTV. 📺 pic.twitter.com/xSybcoaB18
— LaLigaTV (@LaLigaTV) March 13, 2022
Another good Inaki chance came and went, before the most remarkable twenty seconds of match arrived. On the left-hand side, Nabil Fekir picked up the ball and proceeded to juggle the ball on his own before lofting the ball over an Athletic defender. Receiving the return, Fekir was then taken out by a defender before lashing out with a kick at Muniain, who had approached Fekir on the ground.
Needless to say, there was a flurry of yellow, a red for Fekir and scrum of players in the corner. When the match recommenced, Athletic had just 10 minutes to make the advantage count, but never threatened to do so.
A bittersweet end to the match for Manuel Pellegrini, who ended the match back in fourth place but likely without Fekir for several games. For Marcelino Garcia Toral, the feeling that Athletic are just a little short of their ambitions is once again pervasive – now five points of the European places.
Image via Fran Santiago/Getty Images
