Rayo Vallecano and Athletic Club drew, with a final score of 1-1, in the 26th round of the Spanish championship, at the “Estadio Vallecas”, in a duel in which Jorge de Frutos opened the scoring in the first act, when he stretched out and pushed the ball into the opponent’s net, and Inaki Williams, thanks to a masterful execution that he managed at the beginning of the second half, established the result at the end of the 90 minutes of play. The team led from the sidelines by Inigo Perez returned to “their own home”, after more than a month, and the point obtained in this duel keeps them in the lower part of the general hierarchy, while the Basque group loses “speed”, after a series of three victories in a row in LaLiga.

Two teams that were going through a positive period faced each other in the 26th round of LaLiga, Rayo Vallecano receiving the visit of Athletic Club at the “Estadio Vallecas”. The team trained by Inigo Perez would return to “their own home”, after the problems regarding the turf at the arena in the capital of Spain were resolved, and the organizers approved the game to be held at the arena in the host district. In the general classification, before the starting whistle, the situation of both teams was completely and completely different, because Rayo Vallecano was in 15th place, two lengths away from the relegation places, while the band from Bilbao was positioned in eighth place, increasingly closer to the qualifying places in European competitions.

Most recently, in the domestic competition, the Vallecas team had achieved a draw in Seville, in the company of Real Betis, with a final score of 1-1, in contrast to the success recorded by the players trained by Ernesto Valverde, at “San Mames”, with a goal difference, against Elche. However, in the last performance that Rayo Vallecano showed in front of its own supporters, at the Leganes stadium, a categorical triumph, by a no-show score, would be recorded against a “colossus” from the Spanish championship, Atletico Madrid. The club led from the sidelines by Inigo Perez had lost only one match in the last 10 official games that had been played in all competitions before this game.

In the opposing camp, Athletic Club showed up for this match after having marked a series of three victories in a row in LaLiga. In terms of head-to-head matches between the two teams, the last five such meetings ended with the Basque team winning the three points, and Rayo Vallecano’s last success at home, against the Bilbao team, was in September 2014. Inigo Perez could not rely on the services of Dani Cardenas and Diego Mendez for this match, unlike his Spanish counterpart who did not have Nico Williams, Yeray Alvarez, Benat Prados and Maroan Sannadi at his disposal, among other important players in the team.

Alvaro Garcia received applause from the home team’s supporters on the open stage for his performance in reaching the most matches played in the first division of Spanish football as a Rayo Vallecano player. Pathe Ciss also received a significant shirt for winning the African champion title with Senegal earlier this year. The first goal-scoring opportunity of the match belonged to the hosts, when Pacha was served by Alvaro Garcia, but his shot at the short corner was blocked by Unai Simon outside the field.

The free kick executed by Gerard Gumbau was headed from close range by Florian Lejeune, but the French stopper’s shot was blocked by the Basque goalkeeper, so the score remained unchanged. Athletic Club appeared in the dangerous area of ​​the opponent’s box in the 20th minute of the duel, when Unai Gomez was left with the ball at his feet, after an erroneous intervention by Andrei Rațiu, but the shot of the visitors’ footballer went past the posts defended by Augusto Batalla. A good recovery by Jorge De Frutos allowed the Vallecas forward to advance and cross into the goal, where Alvaro Garcia headed the ball, but the ball stopped in the arms of Unai Simon.

The opening of the score came in the 35th minute of the game, when Isi Palazon filtered a pass for Alvaro Garcia, and the ball sent by the home player in front of the opposing goal was converted into a success by Jorge De Frutos, who scored from a slide, not giving the Athletic Club goalkeeper any chance. The second half began with a clearer presence of the guests in the opposing penalty area, and the equalizer came after a quality execution that was sent by Inaki Williams, from a volley, from the edge of the box. He received a pass from a teammate and shot into the far corner in an unstoppable way.

In the 53rd minute of the match, Ruiz De Galarreta lay on the pitch after a horrible fall he suffered at the end of a head-butt, and the central defender of the Bilbao team complained of problems with his right shoulder.

The match in “Vallecas” ended in a draw, with a final score of 1-1, and both teams remained in the same places in the general standings before the start of the match. In the next round, the students trained by Inigo Perez will play at home against Real Oviedo in what will be the “remaining” match in round number 23, while the Basque team will travel to San Sebastian to “face off” with Real Sociedad in the second leg of the “Copa del Rey” semi-final.