• 1-1 in Vitoria. Narration and statistics

It was one of those draws that pleased almost everyone. Al Alavés because the thing had made her ugly before her hobby and managed to at least not leave the weekend with a defeat. And to Leganés because a point away from home is not a despicable loot, even more in its situation and in a field like Mendizorroza in which almost nobody wins. Thus, two curious curses carried by the Vitorian team continued: they have never won in Primera or Leganés or a team trained by Javier Aguirre.

There were better plans, really, than going on a Friday night, in the middle of December, to Mendizorroza to witness an Alavés-Leganés, no matter how cold it was as cold as one might think. They crossed two of the most conservative teams in the category, the only ones whose possession of the ball is less than 45% in what we have been in the championship. Even with all these arguments against, some 15,000 faithful Alava decided to embark on the adventure. What they found did not disappoint them.

The first part, specifically, was a real torture. It is difficult to see less football in 45 minutes than the Garitano and Aguirre teams added. The Leganés armored with a first line of five and another of four, both very close together and delayed, and despised that suspicious spherical element called the ball. Nor did Alavés give him much love, but given the attitude of the rival and his condition as a local, he felt compelled to give it some use, not too much.

Something else domain

Time progressed slowly without anything happening until Leganés managed, two minutes after the break, to take full advantage of a clearing of the stratosphere, mark of the house, of Omeruo. The ball fell to Roque Mesa, opened the band and there, at the first touch, Kevin Rodrigues sent it to the small area, where Braithwaite, arriving only from behind, managed to beat Pacheco.

Al Alavés was completely surprised that Leganés was able to score a goal, as he had not emitted any symptoms of being able to do so in the initial 43 minutes. Nor had the local team done it, that's true, but it did offer the feeling of having some more dominance over what little happened on that pitch. Looking ahead to the second part, Garitano's team had no choice but to go, little by little, assuming more risks.

Salvador Pacheco

Joselu immediately had the tie on his feet, but Rodrigues swiped at him without even knowing very well how. Later, Lucas Pérez tested it, finding a corner as a consolation prize. The Leganés, without reaching the discomfort, was limited to launching counterattacks of little shaft. One of them did, but Roque Mesa did not know what to do before Pacheco who took the opportunity to cover his quota of at least one saving intervention per game.

It was a mistake that, from the bench, the Canarian midfielder was going to regret after the goal of the tie, marked by Joselu in the rejection of a corner and with the invaluable help of Cuéllar. With the draw, Garitano felt satisfied and he demonstrated this by introducing a central like Magallán by Aleix Vidal. With both teams more or less happy, the duel came to an end, something that did not dislike any neutral fan who had the guts to see the 90 minutes of the game.

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  • soccer
  • Deportivo Alavés
  • CD Leganés
  • First division

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