They sour Athletic Bilbao’s party with a penalty goal in the final minutes

MADRID (AP) — Villarreal ruined Athletic Bilbao’s celebration in the final minutes, in their first match after being crowned champion of the Copa del Rey.

Dani Parejo sent a penalty kick into the net in added time, with which the “Yellow Submarine” left the San Mames field with a 1-1 draw against the Basque team on Sunday, in League action. Spanish.

Parejo’s execution during the fifth minute of stoppage time was after the video referee (VAR) sanctioned a handball by Yuri Berchiche inside the area.

This was the second penalty in favor of Villarreal; Gerardo Moreno missed his first attempt at 11 minutes.

Oihan Sancet opened the scoring for the hosts in the 66th minute with a shot inside the area from a pass from Gorka Guruzeta.

“Giving up two points like this is hard,” said Athletic player Ander Herrera. “As for the decision (of the second penalty), let it go ahead, I believe in the honesty of the referees, I have played in several countries and we have a good level of referees, but this decision is inexplicable.”

The Bilbao team is in fifth position with 57 points, four behind Atlético de Madrid in the fight for fourth position that gives the last pass to the next Champions League. Last weekend they ended a 40-year fast without winning the Copa del Rey after beating Mallorca.

Villarreal is in ninth position with 39 units.

Athletic came out with the Copa del Rey to offer it to its fans while they were received in a hallway made up of the Villarreal players and the former soccer players who won the previous title of this tournament in 1984.

“We came to play at San Mamés a week after Athletic played the final… What a beautiful moment!” said Villarreal strategist Marcelino García Toral, who coached Athletic between 2020 and 2022. “Instead of commanding a message or a WhatsApp to the players, I can give them a hug… Very nice. “I was here for a year and a half and these kids deserved it.”

SEVILLE MOVES AWAY FROM THE REMOVAL ZONE

Youssef En-Nesyri (43 minutes) and Dodi Lukébakio (90+3) scored the goals with which Sevilla beat Las Palmas 2-0 at home to move away from the relegation zone.

The Andalusian team is in 13th position with 34 units, nine above Cádiz, which is in 18th position to lose the category.

Las Palmas suffered its fourth defeat in a row and went seven days without a win (five losses and two draws); They are in 12th position with 37 units.

REAL SOCIETY EMPATHY

Adri Embarba converted a penalty in the final stretch so that bottom team Almería achieved a 2-2 draw at Real Sociedad.

Embarba opened the scoring at 30 minutes; He equalized with the penalty shot in the 88th to sign his double.

Sheraldo Becker (32) and Mikel Oyarzabal (59) scored the goals for the txuri urdín team.

Real Sociedad remains in sixth position with 50 units, having one of the places for the next edition of the Europa League.

Almería avoided suffering its twentieth defeat of the course in which it barely has one victory to have 14 points in last place.

The hosts finished with 10 players after suffering the expulsion of Igor Zubeldia (86) due to the foul he committed on Anthony Lozano and which was marked as a penalty.

In another result, Granada ended a streak of 11 days without a victory after beating Alavés 2-0 at home.

Myrto Uzuni (9 minutes from a penalty) and Lucas Boyé (38) were the authors of the goals for the Granada team.

Granada had five losses in a row (eight in this winless streak); It is located in 19th position with 17 units.

Alavés suffered its third setback in a row to finish in 14th position with 32 points.