MADRID, 13 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) –
RCD Espanyol tied this Thursday without goals with Real Sporting de Gijón and has reached the final of the playoff for promotion to LaLiga EA Sports, where they will face Real Oviedo on June 16 and 23 with a favorable home field advantage to the Barcelona team.
After the 0-1 in the first leg achieved by the parakeets at the El Molinón Stadium, the second leg of this semi-final began at the Stage Front Stadium with a clear opportunity to score for Espanyol. In just 20 seconds, Jofre Carreras cheered up the local fans on the right side.
The number 17 gained the back of the visiting side, advanced meters and crossed to the far post, where Javi Puado appeared at a run and sent his extremely dangerous shot over the crossbar. Sporting’s response came in the 14th minute, after a gallop by Pablo García down the left wing that culminated with a pass into the area for Juan Otero.
Sporting’s Colombian striker finished off first, but the ball grazed a post. Three minutes later, the Barcelona team warned Martin Braithwaite twice. First in a cross from Pere Milla from the left wing and the Dane headed, from the penalty spot, into the mitts of goalkeeper Rubén Yáñez.
Immediately afterwards, a cross from Puado from the right wing led to another header from Braithwaite, although over the crossbar. In the 27th minute, the Asturian team created danger, when Christian Rivera escaped from Keidi Bare in the center of the field and provided a deep assist to Mario González, who stepped on the rival area and sent his low shot wide, quite close to the goal defended by Joan Garcia.
Despite a relative lull until half-time, the activity during the second half of the game grew in tension. Braithwaite monopolized the opportunities for Espanyol, as he had a shot on his right boot that went high and then in the 65th minute he made it 1-0.
It was with a right volley, which crashed into a post; In the continued play, his teammate Brian Oliván executed another volley with his left foot and the ball ended up outside the field, but also very close to Yáñez’s goal. Not in vain, the goalkeepers had more and more prominence.
This was made clear by Joan García in the 82nd minute, deflecting a far right hand from Otero into a corner and whose trajectory was an inch above the grass. The game heated up in the end, including the expulsion of Omar El Hilali on the parakeet team with a direct red card for an ugly tackle on Víctor Campuzano on the side of the midfield.
Despite the final insistence of the Gijón team, Manolo González’s pupils endured these attacks and certified their ticket for the last round to be promoted to the First Division, in search of the third and definitive companion for CD Leganés and Real Valladolid.
DATASHEET.
–RESULT: ESPANYOL, 0 – SPORTING DE GIJÓN, 0 (0-0, at half-time).
–ALIGNMENTS:
ESPANYOL: Joan García; El Hilali, Calero, Cabrera, Pere Milla (Salvi Sánchez, min.75); Melamed (Oliván, min.63), Gragera, Keidi Bare (Aguado, min.75), Jofre (Valles, min.75); Puado (Bauza, min.89) and Braithwaite.
SPORTING DE GIJÓN: Yáñez; Rosas, Insua, Diego Sánchez, Pablo García; Hassan (Djuka, min.72), Mesa (Méndez, min.72), Rivera (Róber Pier, min.59), Campos (Villalba, min.66); Mario González (Campuzano, min.59) and Otero.
–REFEREE: Moreno Aragón (C.Madrileño). He cautioned Rivera (min.37), Villalba (min.67) and Djuka (min.90 + 1) with a yellow card for Sporting de Gijón; He sent off El Hilali with a direct red card (min.90+1) at Espanyol.
–STADIUM: Stage Front Stadium, 30,605 spectators.