‘Papu’ Gómez returned to goal after more than a year without converting. Exactly 401 days have gone by without the Argentine celebrating online. Sevilla’s other goals for a 3-0 win over Valladolid (0-3) at the José Zorrilla stadium were from Rafa Mir and Mexican Tecatito Corona.
The ‘Papu’, who hadn’t had the regularity expected since his arrival at Sevilla, took part in the World Cup that crowned his native Argentina but an injury embittered him for a good part of the tournament and marked the rest of the season.
The former San Lorenzo and Arsenal player has played little since then, especially little for a player who dazzled European football at the time of Atalanta in Italy, and who continues to try to be a protagonist. José Luis Mendilíbar, coach of Sevilla, entrusted him with the task at Zorrilla, where he had to rotate due to wear and tear caused by the semi-final of the Europa League against Juventus.
And the ‘Papu’ ended up finding the goal again. He hadn’t scored in La Liga since April 8 last year, in the win against Granada. In Valladolid, however, he had to wait. From the beginning, the referee disallowed the goal, but in the end the VAR confirmed that the Argentine had started from the correct position and celebrated it
Mexican “Tecatito” Corona had an even worse time. A serious injury, a fracture of the fibula and ankle ligaments, suffered in training ahead of the championship match against Valladolid, forced him to undergo surgery. He lost the World Cup and practically the whole season.
He hadn’t played in Liga Santander since day one. In Valladolid he replaced another world champion in Qatar 2022, Gonzalo Montiel, shortly after the end of the match. Victory was assured, but the Mexican took advantage of it to end even more than a year without scoring after a brilliant technical action.
Corona hadn’t scored, like ‘Papu’, since April 2022, in his case in the victory at the Levante fiefdom, which he endorsed with a brace. In Valladolid he smiled again and put an end to so much suffering for himself and for all those around him, as the player himself acknowledged on the DAZN microphones at the end of the match.
With information from EFE
Source: Clarin
