Atleti get away goal, draw in Girona
Our team earned a 1-1 draw at Montilivi in the first leg of the Copa del Rey's Last 16. The tie will be decided at the Wanda Metropolitano.
Atleti earned a 1-1 draw at Montilivi on Wednesday in the first leg of the Copa del Rey's Round of 16.
Our team enjoyed a fantastic start to the game, and took the lead early on. In the ninth minute, a wonderful Griezmann shot struck the post and finished in the back of the net after rebounding on Iraizoz. The match seemed to be under control, but as the minutes progressed Girona started to get closer to Adán's box. And it was after around 34 minutes when the home side equalised through Lozano. Adán got a hand to it but was unable to keep the ball out. The goal gave Girona a boost, and Eusebio's team almost got the second five minutes later through Lozano, once again, when his header struck the crossbar following a corner. We went into half-time shortly thereafter.
Simeone decided to change things around straight away, and our coach made the first substitution at half-time: Correa came on for Montero. It was a very offensive-minded change, and straight away our team started to attack more. After just a couple of minutes, Kalinic shot following a good team play, but Iraizoz saved it. The Croat had another good chance less than five minutes later, but the ball went just wide. Our team had started the second half in spectacular fashion, pressing high up the pitch and attacking the home side. Correa had a great chance around the 55th minute, but his shot from inside the box went just wide of the post. Later on, Simeone decided to bring on Thomas Partey for Griezmann, and for the last substitution, which took place some 20 minutes before the end of the game, our coach brought on Vitolo for Kalinic.
Our team kept attacking and had several chances to get the second goal, mainly through the last two players to come on to the game: Vitolo and Thomas Partey. The shot from the Spaniard was denied by Iraizoz, who made a good save, and our midfielder's lob from outside the box went just wide. Giménez had a decent chance from a corner just moments later, but his header couldn't find the goal either. Our team finished ended the game very strongly and you could sense a second goal was close. We weren't able to do so in the end, however, and the first leg of the Copa del Rey's Last 16 ended in a 1-1 draw. The score leaves everything to play for at the Wanda Metropolitano.
