Athletic Club takes El Sadar and Celta beats Real Sociedad

Valverde’s men closed the year with a comeback and were unstoppable and Vigo’s men stopped the ‘txuri-urdin’ in their European ambition

Mallorca won in Getafe to continue being the surprise

Athletic Club came back (1-2) against CA Osasuna this Saturday on matchday 18 of LaLiga EA Sports to close 2024 unstoppable and with the ‘Top 4’ of the classification well established, while Mallorca also added points for the area European and RC Celta regained the pulse of that goal with a 2-0 victory over Real Sociedad.

Ernesto Valverde’s men seem to have no ceiling this season and are confident of returning just as strong after the Christmas break. The ‘lions’ handed the ‘rojillos’ their second home defeat despite the fact that Osasuna started ahead with Lucas Torró’s 1-0 lead in the 25th minute. Athletic did not falter, nor did they lose focus with a start also marked by the arbitration controversy.

The referee Quintero González did not signal a penalty for handball against Osasuna for a previous foul and, in the next play, he signaled a very doubtful foul by Nico Williams from which the local goal was born. With Iñaki Williams, Athletic did not stop trying until their side scored 1-1: a header from Gorka Guruzeta.

The game was a nice back-and-forth until half-time, with a great save from Unai Simón to regain his tone after injury. Then, the pace and chances slowed down, and for the visitors came the setback of Oihan Sancet’s injury. Those from Bilbao seemed to miss him, but Alex Berenguer ended up appearing in an assist almost from Unai Simon.

The former Osasuna player punished the poor local defense and signed the 1-2 that no longer moved, with which Athletic added 36 points, in the Champions zone and in the fight for the title with an unstoppable streak. Meanwhile, Vicente Moreno’s team finished their sixth consecutive day without winning to remain at 25, ninth with Sunday remaining.

For its part, Mallorca reaffirmed itself in the noble zone with a 0-1 with a lot of craftsmanship and authority against Getafe, thanks to a penalty that Cyle Larin converted in the 53rd minute. The game started ‘blue’, with a couple of chances for Bertug who was sacrificed as the first change before the break. José Bordalás tried to change the plan on the fly and the Balearic team did their thing, with chances for Sergi Darder and Takuma Asano.

At the restart, Berrocal, another of Bordalás’ replacements, committed the penalty on Larin that the Canadian himself converted. From there, Mallorca knew how to play compactly and also suffer, since Getafe accumulated a dozen chances without a reward, a problem for the team with the fewest goals in the League, to leave Christmas very close to the relegation zone.

On the other hand, the last Saturday of the League in 2024 put a stop to the good dynamics of Real Sociedad, inoperative and without a shot on goal against a Celta that resumed its attempt to climb the table. A double by Pablo Durán, clear MVP of the game, in the final stretch of the first half extended Balaídos’ status as a fortress.

Six of Celta’s seven wins came at home and against the ‘txuri-urdin’ team they didn’t even need Iago Aspas. Claudio Giráldez’s men dominated their rival in everything, with Alfon and Borja Iglesias forming a lethal trident with Durán who was able to score another two goals. One of them was narrowly canceled after the restart, when Real were looking for a reaction with three changes.

Imanol Alguacil’s decision did not affect the green and Celta did not allow the Basques to enter the game, with the visitors missing the last minute losses of Martin Zubimendi and Nayef Aguerd. Those from Vigo thus add 24 points to the 25 of a Real team that had conceded only one goal in the previous nine games, both candidates to enter European positions when the League returns.