Anatomy of a goal: How Intercity scored the winner against Castellón
I went down the rabbit hole of why Castellón conceded their second goal at the weekend against Intercity, which spelled the beginning of the end for the Albinegres in the match.
The first was due to an unlikely succession of errors by Borja Granero and Iago Indias, who have been extremely reliable of late, and the third was a direct result of Castellón throwing everyone forward in search of an equaliser. There was nobody to defend the counterattack, and it was easy for Intercity to double their lead and put the cherry on top of their performance.
In game that was also marked by injuries to two key Castellón players (De Miguel and Antón), and the terrible condition of the pitch, the decisive second, scored by Jon Etxaniz, was much more interesting to analyse.
Phase 1: Intercity avoid the press and break out of their half
Cristian is the player for Castellón who presses the Intercity player here, perhaps due to the fact that the other starting central midfielder Kochorashvili had been replaced by Koné, who was positioned firmly out on the wing. The Intercity player easily goes by him and runs into the space, before laying it off to the winger. Although attacking midfielder Suero is also in the picture, it seems he was not expected to be the one closing down. Very importantly here, the left back Leonel Ferroni makes a strong run inside (red arrow), giving them another option in transition (more on this later).
Phase 2: Intercity back off but keep players forward
Josep Calavera does a good job getting over to stop the run of the winger, and is helped out by Raul Sánchez also running back. This forces Intercity to back off, and the play the ball back into the centre of the pitch. However, as you’ll notice above, Leonel Ferroni stays in an extremely advanced position and does not retreat in line with his team. When the ball comes forward again from the centre and gets played out wide, Castellón now have another player to track.
Phase 3: The cross and Castellón’s decision-making
It’s a beautiful cross which goes invitingly across the area, giving multiple players the chance to get on the end of it. Manu Sánchez attempts to cover the winger, which means Oscar Gil has to cover Ferroni, in case of a through ball and not a cross. In a chain reaction, this forces Iago Indias to move across to Nsue and leave Etxaniz open. Borja Granero, Castellón’s other centre back not in frame, is between Etxaniz and Intercity’s winger on the other side, and can’t get back in time to cover the striker.
Ultimately here are three factors here, and had any of the three been different, the goal probably wouldn't have been scored. First, the fact that Ferroni is ahead of the winger, giving him an option, instead of behind. The second is Iago Indias. It is relatively unclear given that Nsue is ball side of him for most of the sequence if he could have actually cleared, but it does seem this was a possibility. He might have also been waiting for Pastor, so there may have been some miscommunication. The third is Borja Granero not moving inside earlier. A faster risk assessment would have determined that the winger on the other side was not yet close to the box, and if Granero had anticipated the cross (something a high-IQ defender like him could do), he could have closed down Etxaniz. The change in formation after Antón’s injury also probably threw the team slightly out of sync - playing with three centre backs has been a rarity for the Albinegres this season.
Ahead of the next game away Amorebieta, the team will no doubt look to work on defending crosses from deep, something the Basque team like to do a lot. The back line will have to be ready for a war of attrition to come away with the three points.
