Iñigo Córdoba’s Sensational Performance Against Levante The Best Of His Career
Iñigo Córdoba had his best performance for Athletic in Friday’s win over Levante (LaLiga)
Iñigo Córdoba has been something of an enigma at Athletic. His work rate can be absolutely invaluable at times, but on other occasions he’s been a liability. The 22-year-old has always shown flashes of brilliance and with more regular playing time he’s really starting to enjoy an impressive consistency to his game. On Friday night he played his best game ever for the first team and there seems to be more where that came from.
As usual, Córdoba was everywhere. A winger with a motor that doesn’t slow down, he was constantly tracking back to help Yuri Berchiche with defensive duties and logged 6 tackles on the night. The pair made it very difficult for Levante to do anything down that side of the field and Córdoba was an even bigger problem going forward.
Córdoba was a persistent threat down the left wing, putting in 5 crosses and 3 key passes. Every time the ball left his foot it seemed destined to lead to a goal and there was very little that Levante could do about it. The Lezama product provided the assist on the first goal of the game as well as the second, although it has since been ruled an own goal. Still, Córdoba also had two crosses that saw headers skim just wide of the post.
The best part of Córdoba’s performance were the things that statistics can’t really show. His positioning and movement without the ball were flawless. He regularly put himself into threatening areas and took defenders out of position several times. Córdoba may not have scored a goal, but he was the catalyst that led the team to victory. Friday night at San Mamés was the most complete performance from Iñigo Córdoba in an Athletic shirt and if he continues at this level he will definitely earn even more playing time in the weeks ahead.