Drama at Mendizorrotza: Alaves and Osasuna Share Wild 2-2 Draw

What a Sunday night spectacle at Estadio Mendizorrotza! Alaves and Osasuna served up a 2-2 thriller that had everything: an early red card, lead changes, and two penalties in the final ten minutes. Both sides remain locked in their mid-table battles after this entertaining stalemate.

The drama began before kickoff was even five minutes old. Osasuna's Asier Osambela saw red for what must have been a shocking challenge, leaving his teammates to face 95 minutes with ten men. You'd expect that numerical disadvantage to doom the visitors, but Osasuna had other ideas.

Just four minutes into the actual match, Valentin Rosier stunned the home crowd by firing Osasuna ahead. The Frenchman, who's been a consistent performer with his 8.4 SAM rating this season, showed exactly why he's so highly rated. His early strike rewarded Osasuna's bold approach despite being a man down.

Alaves dominated possession (48% to 52% doesn't tell the full story with ten vs eleven) and peppered the Osasuna goal with 18 shots to their opponents' eight. The breakthrough finally came in the 44th minute when Toni Martinez leveled the score just before halftime, giving the Babazorros hope.

The second half saw both managers shuffle their packs, with Alaves bringing on fresh legs immediately after the break. Osasuna manager made wholesale changes in the 77th minute, throwing on four substitutes in a desperate bid to see out the result.

Then came the madness. In the 80th minute, Ante Budimir converted from the penalty spot to restore Osasuna's lead. The Croatian striker's composure under pressure was exactly what ten-man Osasuna needed. But this match wasn't done with its twists.

Nine minutes later, Alaves were awarded their own penalty. Up stepped Lucas Boye, the Argentine striker whose 8.4 SAM rating reflects his importance to this Alaves side. Boye kept his cool to slot home the equalizer, sending Mendizorrotza into raptures.

The closing minutes descended into chaos, with yellow cards flying everywhere as both sets of players lost their discipline in the heat of battle.

Tactically, this was David vs Goliath stuff. Osasuna's defensive resilience with ten men was admirable, while Alaves' inability to break down the numerical advantage will frustrate Luis García Plaza. The visitors' expected goals of 1.31 compared to Alaves' 2.07 tells the story of clinical finishing versus wasteful possession.

Jonathan Castro Otto (8.8 SAM rating) and Victor Muñoz (8.8 SAM rating) were the standout performers, both delivering commanding displays in their respective backlines.

This result keeps Alaves in 17th place on 34 points, just three above the relegation zone. Osasuna remain comfortably in 9th with 40 points, though they'll rue not capitalizing on their lead twice. In La Liga's relegation battle, every point matters, and both sides will feel this was two points dropped rather than one gained.