Antonio Blanco Scores Second Goal as Alavés Beats Athletic 1-0 — Alavés - Athletic
Antonio Blanco put Deportivo Alavés ahead 1-0 against Athletic Club in the 9th minute of alavés - athletic, and the goal stood as his second league strike of the season. For a midfielder who had gone two and a half seasons without scoring for Alavés, the finish changed the shape of his contribution in one derby moment.
Blanco Punishes Athletic Early
Ángel Pérez fed the move with a through pass, and Blanco finished from inside the area, almost at the edge of the box, after Unai Simón had already saved the first effort. The second touch turned it into the opening goal and gave Alavés the lead before Athletic had settled into the match.
The timing made it even sharper. Nine minutes in, Alavés had its edge, and Blanco had another league goal to add to the one he scored against Espanyol in January during a 1-2 away win.
From Long Drought To Two Goals
That January goal came from outside the area and briefly tied the match at 1-1 before Lucas Boyé scored the winner in the second half. It was a different kind of finish from the derby strike, but it carried the same message: Blanco is offering Alavés something it had not been getting from him across his first two and a half seasons.
He had played more than 100 matches for the club without scoring before this season. Now he has two league goals, and both have come in matches that shifted the scoreline rather than padded it.
Quique Sánchez Flores And Alavés
Blanco’s scoring run gives Quique Sánchez Flores a midfielder who has already delivered twice in the league, after previously going two and a half seasons without finding the net for Alavés. His total as a professional now stands at four goals, with the other two coming for Real Madrid’s reserve team.
For Alavés, the immediate takeaway is simple: the derby opener came from a player whose scoring had been rare for most of his senior career, and that makes each finish more valuable when the margin is already tight. Athletic had to chase the match from the 9th minute, while Blanco left with another entry in a season that looks very different from his first stretch at the club.
