On This Day in 2022, the Teenage Midfielder Scored His Last La Liga Goal Against Atletico Madrid
The 2021-22 season had seen Yunus Musah establish himself as a fixture in Valencia's midfield, though goals had proven elusive. After breaking through as a 17-year-old prodigy the previous campaign—becoming the youngest non-Spanish scorer in club history against Getafe—the American had channeled his energies into becoming the complete midfielder Valencia needed in a turbulent season.
While LaLiga action brought few scoring chances, the Copa del Rey had provided glimpses of Musah's attacking instincts. On December 2, he found the net against lower-league Utrillas in the tournament's opening round. Three weeks later, facing Arenteiro in the second round, Musah produced something special—a cheeky back-heel finish from Maxi Gómez's shot that showed both awareness and audacity beyond his 19 years. The Copa offered freedom; LaLiga demanded discipline. Under José Bordalás, Valencia had become a side built on organization and grit rather than flair, grinding out results in a season where consistency remained maddeningly out of reach.
By late January, Valencia sat ninth in the table, their form a frustrating patchwork of promise and disappointment. A midweek draw with Sevilla at Mestalla had shown character, but they entered 2022 without a league victory. Now, on January 22, they would travel to the Wanda Metropolitano to face an Atletico Madrid side equally desperate for answers.
The defending champions were enduring their own crisis. Diego Simeone, the architect of Atletico's defensive dominance, found himself presiding over a team that had already conceded 26 goals—more than they had shipped in the entire previous title-winning campaign. Pressure mounted with each dropped point, and on a freezing Saturday night, the home supporters arrived hoping their faltering champions could rediscover their edge.
For 45 minutes, Valencia made the Metropolitano an uncomfortable place to be. Bordalás had his team organized and focused, denying Atletico space and possession. The breakthrough came in the 25th minute, courtesy of Musah. Receiving the ball on the left flank from Gonçalo Guedes, the midfielder didn't hesitate. He drove inward, attacking the space between defenders, and unleashed a powerful low strike that arrowed past Jan Oblak inside the near post. It was his first LaLiga goal of the season, a moment of decisiveness that sent Valencia into the lead.
The strike wounded Atletico, and Valencia capitalized immediately. On the stroke of halftime, Hugo Duro pounced on a fortunate deflection from Toni Lato's pass, poking the ball past Oblak from close range. Valencia led 2-0, and their performance had been thoroughly deserved. "I was very happy to score," Musah said, his tone measured. "I knew that we weren't going to win just by scoring one goal. We had to keep scoring and, more than anything, not concede."
The second half belonged entirely to Atletico. Simeone made four substitutions in the opening 15 minutes, a manager in search of answers, and his team responded by pinning Valencia deep into their own territory. The relentless pressure broke through in the 64th minute when substitute Matheus Cunha tapped home from a corner. Valencia had defended resolutely, but breaking through Atletico's press proved impossible. "We weren't able to break through their press," Musah admitted. "We stayed in our own half, they continued to create chances."
Still, Valencia clung to their slender advantage as the match entered stoppage time. Then came the collapse. In the 91st minute, Yannick Carrasco's cross was parried by goalkeeper Jaume Doménech straight into the path of Ángel Correa, who finished the equalizer. Two minutes later, Carrasco again provided the spark, his cross-shot redirected home at the back post by defender Mario Hermoso. The Metropolitano exploded. Atletico had snatched victory from the jaws of certain defeat, completing an astonishing comeback. Final score: Atletico Madrid 3, Valencia 2.
"We were winning 0-2 after a good first half," Musah would reflect afterward, the disappointment still fresh. "Conceding three goals like that later on hurts a lot. We have to use this feeling for the next game. We have to learn from this."
For Simeone, under intense scrutiny just hours earlier, it was salvation. "Sometimes soccer is about the will to overcome adversities," he told reporters. "This will be a day to remember." For Valencia, it was devastation—a performance worthy of three points reduced to nothing by three minutes of chaos.
Musah's maiden LaLiga strike of the campaign had showcased everything that made him special: the burst of pace, the composure under pressure, the clinical finish. At just 19, the New York-born midfielder had become a regular starter for one of Spain's historic clubs, trusted to compete against elite opposition in the most demanding environments. His nomination for the 2022 Golden Boy award—recognition of Europe's best young talent—reflected his rapid ascent.
The remainder of the season would test Valencia's resilience. They finished ninth in LaLiga, with Gonçalo Guedes and Carlos Soler sharing top-scorer honors on 11 league goals each. The Copa del Rey offered Valencia their best chance at silverware, and they navigated their way to the final against Real Betis on April 23. Musah came on after 100 minutes of a 1-1 draw, only to become the sole player to miss in the penalty shootout as Betis claimed the trophy. Another moment of promise ending in heartbreak.
Yet amid the disappointment, Musah's development continued. His versatility, energy, and growing tactical intelligence made him indispensable to Bordalás, even as goals remained scarce. That strike at the Metropolitano—a powerful declaration from a teenager unwilling to be intimidated by the grandest stages—would stand as his only LaLiga goal of the season, but it encapsulated something larger: the emergence of an American midfielder capable of competing at the highest level of European football.
On this freezing January night in Madrid, for 65 glorious minutes, Musah had shown what was possible. The result may have slipped away, but the statement remained. The kid who had arrived at Valencia as a 16-year-old academy prospect had become a player worthy of the biggest occasions—and American soccer had another trailblazer to celebrate.