Athletic wastes two points: Terzic admits the mistake

TVS News AI, editorially supervised, presents Athletic wastes two points: Terzic admits the mistake.

Osasuna's late equalizer visibly frustrated Edin Terzic: After Athletic went ahead through Nico Williams in the 84th minute, Osasuna equalized in the 90th minute. In the coach's view, the team should not have surrendered the point.

For you as an Athletic fan, that means a sometimes clear advantage ended in a draw after 90 minutes. Terzic's frustration is not directed at any individual player, but primarily at the missed opportunity to end the match at the decisive moment.

The match took place at El Sadar in Pamplona. At the post-match press conference at the stadium, Terzic discussed the decisive scene and explained how he assessed the result.

Why Terzic says Athletic lost “two points”

Terzic explained that one goal was not enough to finish the match. Athletic had to keep fighting and failed to get the ball out of the danger zone. His verdict: The result did not feel like a point won, but like the loss of two points.

“With one goal, the match is not over yet. We had to keep fighting, but we could not clear that pass. My feeling is that we lost two points.”

The wording is deliberately emphatic. Terzic does not assess the result neutrally, but through the missed chance to hold on to the lead in the final minutes. Following the equalizer in the 90th minute, there apparently was still enough time, in his view, to win the match or at least defend the lead more securely.

The second point is a subjective assessment of the result, not a points deduction imposed after the fact. This distinction is important: The coach makes clear that, in his assessment, Athletic did not fall short because of a lack of fair play, but because of a specific defensive situation.

The 84th minute brings the lead — the 90th minute brings the equalizer

The scoreline

The lead taken by Nico Williams was decisive. After Athletic had long been level, the 84th-minute goal initially gave the match a clear direction. The team was ahead, and the home team pushed for an equalizer.

Osasuna got its opportunity and took it in the 90th minute. According to Mundo Deportivo, Athletic once again failed to clear Osasuna's pass from the center. Athletic therefore lost its lead, turning what initially looked like a promising prospect into, from Terzic's perspective, a disappointing loss of a point.

Terzic's assessment of the second half

In doing so, Terzic countered an overly negative overall assessment of the match. He said Athletic deserved to win in the second half and created more chances. At the same time, he said the result could not be explained by a single action during the match, because a lead must be held until the final whistle.

“In the second half, we deserved to win and create more opportunities. We deserved a better result, but with one goal the match is not over yet.”

Terzic thus separates two questions: Did Athletic have chances to win in the second half? Yes. Could the team then secure its advantage? No. That is precisely where he sees the core of the problem.

A win would have taken Athletic closer to the European places

Marca explains the sporting significance of the draw with a clear indication: A win would have helped Athletic move up into the range of the European places, even though there was still one match to play at the time.

The Spanish newspaper thus highlights the possible gain from the 1-1. The equalizer did not merely cost Athletic the chance of a direct win; according to Marca, it also prevented the hoped-for move toward the European places. The sources provided do not state how large that move would have been or exactly where Athletic stood in the table.

Terzic's conclusion therefore fits this assessment. He focuses on the point immediately lost, while Marca emphasizes the greater sporting consequence of the missed victory. The two accounts are compatible: Athletic certainly had a chance of taking three points, but lost the moment in which a more successful record was beginning to take shape.

What the 1-1 means for Terzic and Athletic

The clearest statement of the evening therefore remains: Terzic sees the 1-1 as the loss of two points. The coach points to the failure to clear the ball, the late equalizer and the fact that, in his assessment, Athletic had the better chances in the second half.

Sporting-wise, Terzic remains frustrated by the 90th minute because Athletic could not hold its advantage with the necessary security. In terms of the table, Marca points to the missed move toward the European places. What this will mean for the rest of the season cannot yet be reliably determined from the two available reports.

One thing is clear: The lead in the 84th minute became a draw in the decisive phase of the match. For Edin Terzic, that is not a point gained, but an evening on which Athletic wasted two points.