Rayo Vallecano and Sporting tied a duel in which the team from Gijón went ahead on the scoreboard with a goal from Álvaro Vázquez just before the break, taking advantage of a mistake by the local defense, and which equaled the Madrid team in the second half by Yacine Qasmi.
After falling in the Asturian derby against Oviedo, and with little margin for error to approach the promotion positions, Sporting arrived in Vallecas ready to surprise, although on the pitch he was rather conservative during much of the duel.
(+) See the summary of the match
The Asturian team was infected by the slow pace of play of its rival who, although he wanted to propose, was short of ideas in the first half and with little depth in the last meters.
The two main occasions of the first part came for the Madrid team. The first with a header from Juan Villar who went out in the 34th minute and soon after with a shot from outside the Montiel area that Mariño repelled from under and caught in two halves.
Just when the chronometer pointed to the break, a Rayo defense error made the ball stay inside the loose area after a rebound to Álvaro Vázquez, who did not think his cross shot to beat Dimitrievski.
Paco Jémez moved his bench at the break and put Franco-Moroccan center forward Yacine Qasmi and winger Álvaro García on the pitch to try to give his team another air, although the only thing he achieved was more possession and more attacking initiative but few fruits .
In fact, the closest to score was Sporting again, at 65 minutes, with a good play by Carmona on the left wing that ended with a shot in the heart of Nacho Méndez's area that Saveljich took with a clearance .
Immediately afterwards a mistake by Dimitrievski in the exit of the ball led to a two against two that also generated danger and brought nervousness to the Rayo bench, increasingly nervous.
However, that action was a wake-up call for the Madrid team, who from that moment went decisively to the attack and managed to tie the game 75 minutes after a good cross from the left of Isi Palazón that Qasmi, without opposition, He finished head first at the bottom of the tights.
With this tie Rayo stays with 49 points, one of the sixth place that gives access to promotion, and Sporting adds 46 and remains in the middle of the table.
Data sheet:
Rayo Vallecano: Dimitrievski; Advíncula, Catena, Saveljich, Saúl García (Álvaro García, m.46); Valentín, Comesaña (Trejo, m.59); Andrés Martín (Qasmi, m.46), Montiel (Isi Palazón, m.65), De Frutos; and Villar.
Sporting de Gijón: Mariño; Medina, Valiente, Babin, Damián Pérez; Gaspar Campos (Murilo, m.74), Javi Fuego, Cristian, Aitor (Carmona, m.62); Manu García (Nacho Méndez, m.46) and Álvaro Vázquez (Djuka, m.62).
Goals: 0-1: M.45 Álvaro Vázquez; 1-1: M.75 Qasmi.
Referee: Milla Alvendiz (Andalusian Committee). He admonished Juan Villar (m.84), of Rayo; and Unai Medina (m.18), Cristian Salvador (59), Álvaro Vázquez (76), from Sporting.
Incidents: match corresponding to day 35 of the SmartBank League played without an audience in the stands at the Vallecas stadium in Madrid.