There are magical reunions. There are unique forwards. Falcao arrived, saw and scored. La Real had dominated the game and had gone ahead thanks to Sörloth, showing that the need for him was more resounding than that of a saved Rayo, but Tiger He jumped onto the field and it only took 57 seconds to equalize and delirium the stands. He hadn’t played for more than two months and hadn’t scored for almost half a year, but the Colombian has a gift. That one that unleashed the party in Vallecas and put a little more uphill for the people of San Sebastian, a difficult dream that is not impossible.
Vallecas was ready for the party and Real arrived wanting to party. He soon took the initiative, took control of the ball and his were the first approaches to the rival area, more to test than to intimidate. Until a hyperactive Portu —assisted by Sörloth, who took advantage of a mistake by Fran— put Dimitrievski to the test with a one-on-one that the Norman Macedonian solved. The clock had to advance more than twenty minutes for the host to appear near the goal defended by Remiro, with two crosses from Isi and Álvaro without much danger.
The party was being decaffeinated, but the txuri-urdin made their first chance profitable with intention. Gorosabel dribbled the ball down the right wing, spotting Sörloth, who first dribbled past Catena and then put together a tight left-footed shot to make it 0-1. That served to wake up the redheads, with two shots in just two minutes. First Unai López, after a steal by Isi and a center by Comesaña, and then Álvaro examined Remiro from the edge of the box. Rayo, finally, dressed as the usual Rayo. And just before the break, Unai tried his luck again, although his whiplash missed the side. Some emotion to animate a first part without spark.
More energetic started the second, when the Real caressed the sentence. Januzaj -just arrived at the appointment from the bench- had a one-on-one with Dimi and Fran cleared the rebound just before Merino caught him. There was a local response, again with Fran García as the protagonist. Unai served it to the side, who put together a missile that forced Remiro to fly. An action that Rayo traced just a few minutes later, with a very strong shot by Óscar Valentín deflected by the goalkeeper in the air. The Vallecanos pressed, sheltered by a stand, eager to celebrate.
The applause thundered with Falcao’s entrance. Tiger It didn’t take him a minute to score the 1-1, in one of those goals that corroborate his feline instinct. Trejo left it for Álvaro and Remiro cleared his shot, a dead ball that the Colombian caught to the delirium of his fans, the same one that started chanting: “It’s First, Rayo is First.” His players came up. Catena tested and the team prowled the royalist area until the last breath. One point and keep the party going…
Changes
Oscar Valentine (45′, Pathé Ciss), Elustondo (45 ‘, Zubeldia), Knight (53 ‘, Gorosabel), Trejo (62 ‘, Unai López), Isak (64 ‘, Port), Andrew Guevara (75′, Rafinha), Falcao (76′, Isi)
goals
0-1, 32′: Sörloth1-1, 77′: Falcao
cards
Referee: Alejandro Muñiz Ruiz
VAR Referee: Xavier Estrada Fernandez
Zubeldia (37′, Yellow) Unai López (55′, Yellow) Oscar Valentine (72′, Yellow