Real Betis and Eibar Did Not Disappoint Fans
Real Betis and Eibar fought to a draw in last Sunday's afternoon match, which took place on 2 February during the 22nd week of the La Liga season. Some sports analysts had predicted Eibar to come away victorious in this meeting between the rivals due to home advantage, but the favorites never gained enough momentum to quell the winning attitude that Betis showed, even after being up 1 to 0 early on.
Stats, Venue and Personnel
The 2 p.m. start time offered ideal weather and brought out 6,558 cheering fans for Eibar, the home team. The opulent venue, the Municipal Stadium of Eibar, hosted the Real Betis squad. So far this season, Eibar has notched 6 wins, 6 draws and 10 losses, compared to Real Betis, who have claimed 7 wins, 7 draws and 8 losses. Eibar team captain Sergi Enrich and manager Mendilibar oversaw their revered team as the cheering fans demonstrated exactly what it means to have home field advantage. On the Real Betis side, beloved team captain Joaquin and manager Rubi knew they had their work cut out for them facing a favored opponent as visitors. Enthusiasm was running high for both squads, however, as scoring began early and the action on the field was fast.
Scoring and Results
Just 7 minutes into the match, Real Betis star Nabil Fekir scored to put the visitors up 1 to 0 with nearly the entire game still left to play, leaving it wide open for the taking. But Eibar dislike playing catch-up and only allowed 8 minutes to pass by before scoring and making it 1-1. Orellana put the single goal on the board for the local squad. Incredibly, considering the high energy levels all around and the amount of time left in the match, no other players were able to score, thus delivering a 1 to 1 tie that didn't sit well with the fans, who clearly expected their Eibar team to pull off a victory. But it wasn't meant to be on this day of frenetic, erratic play that saw Betis dominating the game's statistics, even though they scored only once.
Game Stats That Tell the Story
Real Betis clearly played like winners in this match that somehow ended in a draw. In nearly every important category, Betis led Eibar. With 64 percent of total possession time, 85 percent (compared to Eibar's 66 percent) for passing accuracy, 43 to 38 percent of shots on target, and other game parameters, Real Betis delivered the goods. The reason for this dominance was the better quality players Betis is able to recruit due to their bigger finances and main sponsor. But the hometown Eibar fans weren't persuaded, as the local team didn't allow Betis to score any more goals and in fact led the "saves" category with 5 out of 6, compared to the visitors' 2 out of 3.
With just 16 games remaining on this season's schedule, Rubi and company are looking forward to playing their next match in front of local fans in Sunday's upcoming home game against Barcelona. The team's season closes out on 24 May with a road game against Valladolid.
