The Promotion Dream Remains Intact

Today saw the penultimate match of the regular league season and the belief remained intact. Real Oviedo travelled to Tenerife with the aim of picking up three points and taking the chase for an automatic promotion place to the final day of the season. Following the victory over Real Zaragoza, Veljko Paunovic altered the starting eleven slightly, opting for Aarón Escandell in goal, Nacho, Costas, Calvo and Rahim in defence, Colombatto, Sibo, Cardero, Portillo and Hassan in midfield, and Alemão up front.

 

The hosts were on top during the opening minutes and they had the better of the chances. Tenerife had a goal disallowed before Luismi Cruz struck the post with a header, with Real Oviedo eventually waking up and beginning to come back into the game. Following the initial flurry from the home side, Alemão had the first chance for Los Azules, but the striker was not quite able to get on the end of a left-wing cross. The match then progressed into a fairly even period, with very few opportunities.

 

After the interval and in the 60th minute, Real Oviedo made the first three substitutions, with Cazorla, Paraschiv, and Luengo coming on in place of Cardero, Hassan, and Portillo. Shortly afterwards, Sibo received his fifth yellow card of the season, meaning he will miss next week's fixture through suspension. In the 74th minute Nacho Vidal capitalised on a defensive error to beat the CD Tenerife keeper and open the scoring. The travelling Oviedistas at the Heliodoro Rodríguez López went crazy, as they saw their dream of automatic promotion remain alive. Paunovic's side were able to manage the lead and take home three points which mean that the team goes into the final day with the possibility of automatic promotion still intact.

 

The calculations are simple. Real Oviedo must beat Cádiz and wait to see whether RC Deportivo de la Coruña can defeat Elche CF.