Cádiz CF earned a historic victory at Nuevo San Mamés on Thursday, beating Athletic Bilbao at a ground where they had never previously won in LaLiga. It was a triumph earned in heroic fashion, as Los Amarillos played with fewer men than their opponents for the whole of the second half, having been reduced to 10 by the sending-off of Carlos Akapo and then found themselves down to nine when Álvaro Negredo was dismissed for a second yellow. Cádiz’s winner came courtesy of an own goal by Athletic’s Unai López.
No clear openings in the initial stages
The opening stages of the encounter passed without much incident, as Athletic and Cádiz both played the ball about without much penetration. In fairness to the hosts, they showed greater purpose going forward than their visitors, but neither side was able to create much in the way of attacking threat in and around the penalty areas.
Among the major team news for Cádiz was the inclusion of the goalkeeper ‘Conan’ Ledesma for his debut, and the Argentine survived a minor fright after a misunderstanding with Akapo on the quarter-of-an-hour mark, one which momentarily threatened to change the course of the game early doors.
Chance for Raúl García and response from Iza
Athletic’s first significant chance in attack came when Raúl García took aim from the edge of the area, but the midfielder, who was closed down quickly, sent his effort wide. Cádiz responded with an Iza Carcelén cross-cum-shot from the right that no-one was able to get on the end of, and it was gathered by home goalkeeper Unai Simón.
On the stroke of half time, Athletic carved out another notable attacking opportunity, but López’s header from a set-piece delivery was saved with a minimum of fuss by Ledesma - despite the defender connecting with the ball in plenty of space.
Los Amarillos go down to 10 men early in the second half
Athletic began the second half as they had finished the first - dominating possession of the ball - before one of the game’s key moments arrived, as Akapo picked up a second yellow card after a late challenge on Dani García, and left Cádiz a man down.
Lozano goes close to putting Cádiz ahead
Honduran forward ‘Choco’ Lozano latched on to a bouncing ball on the edge of the
area after a poor clearance by the Athletic defence and, with his instep, directed a powerful shot on goal that forced Simón to produce a smart stop to parry it behind for a corner.
Cádiz were putting in a full-blooded display and didn’t appear to be adversely affected by their numerical inferiority, but the fact remained that there was still a good deal of the game to go and the substitutions that Cervera needed to make looked likely to be key to the outcome of the match.
López’s own goal gives Cádiz the lead!
Having already threatened to break the deadlock, Los Amarillos did just that after a sensational piece of attacking play from Lozano. Cutting in at speed from the right, he fired a lethal pass across the face of goal towards Jens Jonsson, only for López to get there before the Dane and turn it into his own net.
Williams hits the woodwork!
After the blow of going behind, Gaizka Garitano’s men threw themselves into attack, creating two chances that served notice of their intention to lay siege to Ledesma’s goal. First, Iñaki Williams headed against the woodwork, and shortly afterwards Íñigo Martínez sought to surprise the goalkeeper, who palmed the ball away. Right after that, Ledesma rebuffed another goal-scoring opportunity for Athletic.
Cádiz reduced to nine with 20 to go as Negredo dismissed
Brought on as a substitute after an hour, Negredo picked up two bookings in 10 minutes: the first after challenging for the ball, the second after an attacking move that ended up with the striker on the turf. Having deemed Negredo to have dived, referee Pablo González Fuertes showed no hesitation in brandishing a second yellow card.
Desperate Athletic throw the kitchen sink at a battling Cádiz
The closing stages of the match saw Athletic throw everything at the nine men of Cádiz in search of a leveller, but Cervera’s side handled themselves magnificently, both with the ball and without it. Los Leones pressed hard, but were denied by the visitors. The final whistle brought sheer joy for every Cadista.
