Osasuna edges past Getafe on Budimir penalty at El Sadar

It only took one penalty to settle the afternoon at El Sadar. Osasuna claimed all three points against Getafe by a score of 1-0, with Ante Budimir converting from the spot right before halftime. That was pretty much all that separated two teams that split the merit almost evenly, but not the result.

The match had been a scrappy affair, full of fouls and short on clear chances, until VAR stepped into the picture late in the first half. In the 41st minute, Djené Dakonam fouled Budimir inside the box. The referee waved play on at first, but after a review, the VAR call came in the 43rd minute: penalty for Osasuna. Djené picked up a yellow card for the foul, and in first-half stoppage time, in the 46th minute, Budimir made no mistake, sending his left-footed shot low into the corner for the 1-0 that stood at the break.

The second half opened with another refereeing flashpoint. In the 51st minute, Enes Ünal thought he had leveled the score, but the goal was chalked off after a VAR review for offside in the buildup. It was Getafe's best moment of the match, as they pushed forward but couldn't find a way back in. Jonathan Dubasin tried his luck in the 60th minute with a low shot that was saved, and at the other end Ramón Terrats answered in the 68th minute with a close-range effort that was also stopped. Neither side found a second goal despite the substitutions and the efforts of Raúl García and Kike Barja on one side, and Borja Mayoral on the other, as the match wound down to its final minutes.

A match of even numbers

The stats reflect just how tight the contest was. Getafe controlled more of the ball and generated slightly more overall volume, but Osasuna was sharper where it counted.

The xG calculated after the fact from the match's shots puts Osasuna at 1.707 against Getafe's 1.466, a razor-thin margin that confirms this was a game decided by details rather than clear superiority from either side.

The pre-match projections had pointed to a higher-scoring draw than what actually played out: a 43% chance of a home win, a 33% chance of a draw and a 24% chance of an away win, with expected goals of 1.2 for Osasuna and 0.84 for Getafe, a combined total of 2.04. In the end, the most likely outcome on the list came through, a home win, though with a tighter scoreline than expected: a single goal was enough, and it came from the least common route, the penalty spot.

What the result means in the standings

In the LaLiga table, Osasuna moves to 7 points after two wins and a draw in three matches, sitting in fifth place. Getafe, meanwhile, stays on 3 points with one win in three matches, in 14th place. The gap between the two sides in the standings stands at 4 points, a gap this result did nothing but confirm.

With the score settled from first-half stoppage time and Getafe's disallowed goal the only real scare of the second half, Osasuna banked all three points at home thanks to their efficiency from the penalty spot, while Getafe leaves El Sadar with the feeling of having created enough to have taken at least something more from the trip.