Sinama: Butt-saving Frenchman on Duty

By: Al | September 25th, 2008

Getafe 1 – Atlético Madrid 2

29′ Sinama-Pongolle
75′ Albin
82′ Sinama-Pongolle

We won, but we ended up paying the price losing Maniche in the 13th minute because of a knock to the hip, and now he won’t be fit for the match against Sevilla on Sunday. Simao is also out from twisting his knee and will be out for 3 weeks alongside Forlan.

I admit, I didn’t get to see the game too clearly since Justin.tv had awful streams and I was getting by with a stream called “ÓÑÇéÌáÊ¾£” that would run slow, then run as if it were in fast forward. But I did see an even matchup. Albin’s goal for Getafe (or was it actually an own-goal by Assuncao?) was impressive, but Sinama-Pongolle took the spotlight once again with 2 more goals. The first was some old-school mandhandling of the keeper with an impressive nutmeg.

The second goal was a tap-in that ended up being unfortunate for a Getafe side that deserved a draw.

Sinama (I’m getting tired of writing “Sinama-Pongolle”) is now tied as Pichichi with R. Mad’s Rafael Van Der Vaart at 5 goals. Our replacement striker (well, kinda) being Pichichi says a lot. Once Forlan is back in business, our striker trifecta will be complete (too bad we can’t field all three of them).

What a match for Ujfalusi. His 50 meter assist to Sinama was class and his experience is evident. Maniche’s missing energy (and the difference was evident when he left) was replenished by Ujfalusi’s solid play.

Getafe’s midfield seemed to have tons of space and were dominant in some parts of the match. They had twice as many shots as we did but not too many on goal. Before our second goal, the match was all them, but their failure to capitalize only benefitted us. Both teams played efficiently, but we were more effective in the end. Boring match overall, I hate to say.

Three points are three points, but we can’t win against Sevilla playing like this. Our passes need to be more accurate and we must be more aggressive. It’s nothing that will take a long time to improve on, we were just being held back by a very strong side. There’s no doubt we’ll be on fire this Sunday, sans Maniche and Simao.

Bring on Sevilla.

Pictaaz’