Valencia boss Nuno Santo fumed at the ‘outrageous’ decision to award Athletic Bilbao their equaliser following Thursday’s 1-1 draw at San Mames.
Aritz Aduriz inflicted sweet revenge on his former employers as he scored at the death, despite being in an offside position when Borja Viguera’s initial shot was blocked, although not before Nicolas Otamendi was harshly sent off for a challenge on Mikel San Jose.
It was a case of more dropped points for Los Che, who also fired blanks in their last game against Villarreal, and the Coach rued his side’s luck at present.
“Athletic’s goal was clearly offside,” he said after the game.
“It’s an outrage, but it’s unfortunate. If anyone doesn’t want Valencia to achieve their objectives then that would be wrong.
"We did a good job but deserved more. We can’t stop and won’t stop. I appreciated the work we did, but there were too many moments of injustice.
“San Mames is a stadium in which you find yourself under pressure, in front of a respectful crowd, but the referee has to decide by what he sees.
"My players are outraged and have clearly been affected by a very obvious refereeing decision. The whole stadium saw it.
"I think [Nicolas] Otamendi touched the ball before [taking out San Jose]. He’s a key player for us.
“This is very difficult for us [to swallow]. We worked very hard, with indignation [in our minds].
“It’s very difficult for me to analyse the game logically. Until Thursday, Mestalla had been a fortress for us. The team and the fans are as one.”
