UD Las Palmas said goodbye to the sporting year of 2017 with another defeat in Getafe and are slipping away in the league. In the game’s first corner, in the first set piece, and with just 5 minutes on the clock, Las Palmas conceded the first goal. Juan Cala, got in behind the yellows’ back line and headed past goalkeeper Raúl Lizoain. Las Palmas kicked off another game a goal down, due to their state of anxiousness and lack of confidence.
Paquito Ortiz decided to shuffle his starting line-up. Italian Alberto Aquilani was back after a few games’ absence. Vicente Gómez and Tana, who started against Espanyol, started on the bench. In attack, Las Palmas went for their best attacking options, with Remy, Oussama, Jonathan Viera and Calleri. The French forward, following a superb run, wasted a great chance to equalize (min. 12).
The yellows’ fragile state shines through this season, to the extent that opposing teams can score against them at will. Getafe went 2-0 ahead, with a goal by Amath, with just a quarter of an hour on the clock. Although Las Palmas tried to simplify their football, their lack of confidence stops them from playing their free flowing style. Calleri and Remy both got close to scoring, but bad luck seemed to pursue the Canarian team.
Injury to Michel Macedo forced Paquito Ortiz into making a change in the first half. He was replaced by a more adventurous David Simón, but it wasn’t Las Palmas’ night. Getafe had much less to offer than Las Palmas, but with a favourable scoreline and playing at home, they just had to compete for every ball to cancel out their rivals. The yellows pushed hard and huffed and puffed in their attempts to reduce arrears, but their frontline were wasteful. Jonathan Viera was clean through but put the ball wide. Half time arrived with Las Palmas lagging behind, and with another challenge they were unable to rise to.
Las Palmas are unable to score even when presented with gifts from their rivals. Remy missed an open goal following a glaring mistake by home goalkeeper Guaita, hitting his shot high over the bar. The second half looked promising for Las Palmas, as they played with more bite and more intensity against their rivals. The two goal deficit was too much, however, and Getafe entrenched themselves in their half of the pitch and held onto their advantage. The limited themselves to a direct approach and long balls to their lone forward Ángel. Las Palmas strove to change their fortunes, but they ended up with yet another defeat, and rounded off a disappointing 2017 with just 11 league points from a possible 51.
