Brugue nets brace as Levante leapfrog 10-man Athletic Club in LaLiga victory

Just four days on from playing out a goalless draw in Saturday’s away clash against Valencia, Athletic returned to the city with hopes of ending a run of three consecutive draws with a victory. Edin Terzic’s side made an encouraging start to this rescheduled encounter, with Alex Berenguer forcing Mathew Ryan into a strong save at full stretch.

However, the early promise was soon forgotten when Athletic effectively gifted Levante a two-goal lead in a chaotic two-minute period.

A failure to deal with a low cross sparked a pinball situation in the box that opened the door for Brugue to drill a low shot beyond the unmoved Unai Simon at the near post.

Brugue had only just finished celebrating his first when he doubled Levante’s lead, tapping into an empty net after Simon parried Thiago Fernandez’s powerful shot from a move that started with Mikel Jauregizar’s misplaced pass.

After becoming the first team to trail Levante at half-time this season, Athletic were offered a way back into the contest when Jon Ander Olasagasti was penalised for an accidental kick on Maroan Sannadi in the box after a long VAR review.

Berenguer stepped up to calmly roll home the subsequent penalty as Ryan guessed the wrong way to the relief of the travelling supporters.

However, just as those fans started to believe in a comeback, Aymeric Laporte was, somewhat harshly, given his marching orders for a last-man foul on Dani Requena, despite there being minimal contact between the two players.

Boosted by Laporte’s dismissal, substitute Karl Etta Eyong eliminated any doubt over the result when he netted a close-range rebound in stoppage time, wrapping up the club’s first win since August 29th. While Levante jump above Athletic and into 11th place, the visitors drop down to 13th spot after suffering their third defeat of the season. 

Flashscore Man of the Match: Roger Brugue (Levante)

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