Heliopolis has a new hero. Football has no memory. Fekir left and Lo Celso arrived, with his long-sleeved shirt and his class to boost Betis. Also with his two goals, which finished off a very dull Getafe, who were more of a team when they let go of their complexes and with the 2-0 against them went in search of the Betis area. Lo Celso boosted an Andalusian team that deserved the victory from start to finish. Football is very curious. After Getafe wasted time for more than an hour and Betis accumulated one chance after another, it was the Andalusian team itself that ended up asking for the time with Arambarri’s late goal.
2
Rui Silva, Héctor Bellerín, Romain Perraud (Ricardo Rodríguez, min. 45), Diego Llorente, Natan, Pablo Fornals (Aitor Ruibal, min. 76), Marc Roca, Sergi Altimira, Giovani Lo Celso (Iker Losada, min. 77) , Abde Ezzalzouli (Juanmi, min. 85) and Vitor Roque (Chimy Ávila, min. 85)
1
David Soria, Omar Alderete, Djené Dakonam, Diego Rico, Juan Iglesias, Alex Sola (Mauro Arambarri, min. 61), Carles Alena (Yellu Santiago, min. 74), Christantus Uche, Peter Federico (Carles Perez, min. 45), Luis Milla (Alberto Risco, min. 74) and Bertug Yildirim (Borja Mayoral, min. 74)
Goals
1-0 min. 60: Giovani Lo Celso. 2-0 min. 73: Giovani Lo Celso. 2-1 min. 92: Arambarri
Referee Juan Luis Pulido Santana
Yellow cards
Alex Sola (min. 11), Aleñá (min. 12), Omar Alderete (min. 14), Bordalás (min. 15), Romain Perraud (min. 37), Fornals (min. 42), Bertug Yildirim (min. 57), Diego Rico (min. 63), Rui Silva (min. 87)
Red cards
Bordalás (min. 91)
With the 2-1, Betis advances to the top of the table while Getafe is stuck in the danger zone. José Bordalás, who ended up being sent off, cannot work miracles. He has a very limited team, especially in attack. They resisted as much as they could with a defensive method and great dedication. They also wasted a lot of time and stopped the game. But they need more. With the crowd very angry, Bordalás was sent off amidst loud protests. He is not well received at the Benito Villamarín. Betis, with this Lo Celso, is aiming high. It was not Vitor Roque’s afternoon, who missed up to three clear chances. His teammate took charge to give Betis six points in this postponed match of the third matchday. Now, the Andalusians are already sixth.
Card after card, stoppage after stoppage, Getafe exerted its survival. Three yellow cards to the Madrid team in the first 15 minutes clearly spoke of the intention of the referee, Pulido Santana, to penalize the traditional game of the blues. This season, Bordalás has radicalized his approach in the face of the lack of quality and effective attack. Betis always tried, with Lo Celso and Vitor Roque as the best elements, along with Abde, but little by little it fell into Getafe’s trap. The Madrid team plays so that nothing happens, turning each foul in its favor into a stoppage in the game. Betis had the defect of not scoring in a first half that ended very angry with Getafe’s approach. Soria had saved on two occasions against Abde and a shot from Lo Celso had gone close to the post. A penalty was still claimed for Fornals with the memory in the stands of an action by Bertug in the third minute on Bellerín that could have been a red.
Betis came out more incisive in the second half. Each intervention by Lo Celso resulted in a dangerous action in the Getafe area. His through passes and his vision of the game created a series of chances that Vitor Roque, on this occasion, was unable to capitalise on. Soria was superb in a shot by Llorente until Milla intercepted a ball in the area with his hand. Lo Celso scored and did justice. Shortly afterwards, his strong shot surprised the good Getafe goalkeeper. Heliopolis exploded. They already have their hero, replaced by Pellegrini so that he could get the ovation of the afternoon. The Betis coach gave his most important players a rest and his men still had to suffer. Arambarri scored with a header in the 94th minute with four others ahead due to the eight-minute stoppage time given by Pulido Santana. Then, it was Betis who wasted time. The things of football. Then, the crowd did not get angry with their own.
