The Athletic captain, after several days on the bench, leads the victory that leads to the Cup semifinals
Athletic Club qualified for the Copa del Rey semifinals this Thursday after winning 3-1 at Valencia, in a single-match quarterfinal tie. Athletic took the lead with a goal from iker muniain (35), Valencia tied with an own goal by Óscar de Marcos (43), but at halftime Nico Williams made it 2-1 (45) and Mikel Vesga sentenced after a penalty (74).
In a very even match between two teams that were very prudent to start with, Athletic looked more for the opposite goal. After half an hour, Iñaki Williams headed the ball into the area to muniain to open the scoring (35). The goal boosted Athletic against a Valencia that went through a few moments of bewilderment, but Diakhaby’s arrival from the right ended with a cross that De Marcos drove into his own goal (43).
The joy of the locals did not last long because just two minutes later, Iñaki Williams returned to leave a free ball to his brother Nico to make it 2-1 (45). Around the break, Valencia continued accusing the coup in front of an Athletic that pressed up the departure of the ‘che’ team.
The Basques took the reins of the game until Cenk Ozkacar brought down Nico Williams in the area, in an action sanctioned with a penalty after the referee consulted VAR. Mikel Vesga did not fail from eleven meters to put the 3-1 (74) that sentenced the tie and gave Athletic the pass to the semifinals of the KO tournament.