Las Palmas turns their streak around with an excellent second half in León (0-3)
UD Las Palmas won again. They did so this Sunday at the Reino de León (0-3), with a high-flying second half to secure the points with goals from Mika Mármol, Manu Fuster, and Sandro Ramírez. The yellows break their streak of matches without victories, achieve their first win of the second round, and remain in the promotion playoff positions.
The coach Luis García Fernández chose to repeat in the Reino de León the same starting eleven that a week earlier had drawn at the Estadio de Gran Canaria against the then-leader, CD Castellón. Moreover, his players were already aware of results obtained by neighboring rival teams in the standings.
Las Palmas failed to completely find their footing in a first half where there were barely any chances in either area. The goalkeepers, however, had their moments of brilliance to explain the 0-0 scoreline at halftime.
The best chance for Cultural Leonesa came in the 10th minute, after a run by Luis Chacón who managed to get a shot off from the heart of the yellow area. But goalkeeper Dinko Horkas denied him the goal, getting his glove in time to deflect the ball.
That was the only moment of concern for the yellows in the first half of the match, where caution dominated the play of both teams. The visitors' combined plays also failed to culminate in the penultimate and final attacking moves. However, the local goalkeeper, Edgar Badía, also had to intervene decisively in the 44th minute when Taisei Miyashiro tested him. The Japanese player shot under some pressure after a play by his team, and the goalkeeper reacted with quick reflexes to deflect a ball that was already heading towards his net. A few minutes earlier, Badía had also prevented a shot from Jesé, this time using his foot in time to deflect the attempt.
The game took a complete turn at the start of the second half, with a more incisive UD Las Palmas. The 0-1 came from a set-piece play: a lateral free kick taken by Manu Fuster and perfectly headed in by Mika Mármol. That goal energized Luis García's players, who in the 56th minute made it 0-2 with a counterattack led by Jesé and finished by Manu Fuster with a soft shot from the edge of the box.
UD Las Palmas controlled the game in the final stretch of the match, with the mission of keeping Horkas' goal intact. They also continued to create dangerous counterattacks until Sandro Ramírez, after an excellent pass from Enzo Loiodice, sealed the 0-3 with a cross-shot against Badía. The goal by the Gran Canarian striker was celebrated by all his teammates for its personal and collective significance.