The game began with the teams separated by six points, and that margin continues following the draw between the two sides tonight. Granada CF came to the Estadio Gran Canaria as leaders, while Las Palmas only had one victory to show for their last seven matches. German player Blum, who played wide on the right, was the most significant change to the starting line-up in place of Javi Castellano. Rubén Castro was also back in the starting line-up replacing the absent Rafa Mir.
The first chance of the match fell to the away side in a set piece move that saw Adrián Ramos nearly squeeze the ball inside the near post of home goalkeeper Raúl Fernández (min 14). Two minutes later Tana replied with a shot that was gathered by Rui Silva.
Granada played true to form, huddled in defence waiting for the chance to break with the pace of Vio, Vadillo and Ramos. Las Palmas were applied in defence so the ball could reach Galarreta and Tana. It was not easy for the home side to break into Granada’s area, who looked solid all night. Raúl Fernández made a great save from a searing drive by Germán from the edge of the box (min. 24). Colombian striker Adrián Ramos tried his luck from distance and his effort nearly crept in.
Then two minutes before half time, Las Palmas broke the deadlock, with a goal by Rubén Castro. The yellows’ striker got on the end of a loose ball fired in by Araujo and put his side ahead (1-0).
The second half kicked off with the first setback for Las Palmas, with Galarreta limping off with a muscular injury. His place was taken by Maikel Mesa. From the following corner Ramos headed home the equalizer for the away side (min. 49). Despite conceding the goal, Manolo Jiménez’s side had several good chances through Timor, Maikel Mesa and Blum, as well as great defensive work by Sergio Araujo. Granada no longer looked quite so comfortable and they lacked fluency going forward.
Las Palmas handled proceedings better than Granada at key moments of the game, and for this reason they went ahead once more with a goal by Araujo (min. 78), with a cross shot. Granada pushed hard and were awarded a penalty when Juan Cala was punished for handball in the 83rd minute. However Raúl Fernández stretched to turn Antonio Puertas’ penalty away. Everything changed from that moment on. Granada didn’t let their heads drop and with a flowing move Rodri scored his team’s equalizer (2-2, min. 86), which turned out to be the final scoreline.
