Athletic take small step toward Copa final

Muniain late goal n the first half earned Athletic Club a slight advantage over Granada

Athletic take small step toward Copa final
Athletic take small step toward Copa final

Iker Muniain scored late in the first half to earn Athletic Club a slight advantage over Granada in their Copa del Rey semi-final tie with a 1-0 first-leg victory on Wednesday night at San Mames.

 

 

Despite the victory, Athletic will likely be left ruing the final scoreline as the Basque side dominated the match but were unable to find another a second goal, leaving the tie wide open going into the return leg in Andalusia.

The raucous atmosphere made for a fantastic setting for football, but the visiting Andalusians almost quieted the home crowd with an early strike from Roberto Soldado. Athletic began carving out chances through Inaki Williams, Mikel Vesga and Yuri Berchiche, but they had to wait until the final minutes of the half to break the deadlock.

 

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A long ball was hoofed up to Williams, who controlled the ball with his shoulder and crossed for the charging Muniain to fire past Rui Silva for a 1-0 lead. The call on Williams was close, but VAR ruled that the Athletic striker had not used his arm to control the ball.

Athletic carried that momentum into the second half and pushed hard for a second. Blasts from Williams and Ander Capa raised hope among the home supporters, followed by a Capa goal was that later disallowed by VAR because an offside Williams had interfered with the shot.

Williams was wreaking havoc though and he forced Rui Silva into a diving stop to keep it a one-goal affair. Meanwhile, at the other end, it was a much different story for Athletic shot-stopper Unai Simon, who was left relatively untroubled by a Granada attack that hardly entered the final third with the exception of a sizzling low effort from Carlos Neva.

Athletic made one last push for a second goal but were turned away by a defensively solid Granada that held their shape to ensure a much more manageable deficit going into the second leg.