Las Palmas came away with a deserved point in a rain-soaked Oviedo. For the match against Real Oviedo in the Carlos Tartiere stadium, Deivid and Javi Castellano were the new faces in the starting line-up of Pepe Mel. The downpour that occurred half an hour before the start of the match made for quicker conditions than normal, although the ball did get stuck in certain areas of the pitch on occasions. Las Palmas slowed down a frenetic game of football that Real Oviedo tried to assert right from the kick off.
The home side had three long-range efforts that Raúl Fernández was easily able to deal with in the first twenty minutes, and which didn’t unsettle Mel’s highly organize side, who waited patiently for their opportunities. Momo, David Timor and Galarreta began to take over and Las Palmas began to look the part..
A weak header by Rubén Castro and a charge forward by Álvaro Lemos with another weak shot encouraged Las Palmas to push forward and attack the Oviedo defence. The two sides knew that Málaga and Deportivo de La Coruña had slipped up and were keen to enter into the fight for playoff places with nine league matches to go. The rain then poured down just before half time, with a nil-nil scoreline.
The second half saw the rain come down even more heavily. The pitch became heavy and the players had to work really hard in the fight for possession. Great care had to be taken when pass back in defence, as in each rebound the ball suddenly stopped dead, while on other occasions it skidded about quickly. A great stop by Raúl Fernández (min. 56) from a shot by Saúl Berjón kept out the home side’s first real threat.
In the 65th minute, Deivid hit the post following a free kick by Lemos. The game suddenly entered into its most interesting phase. The two teams were fighting a common enemy, the heavy downpour. Long balls were taking the place of short passes. The most important thing was to keep the ball away from the areas being defended. Three minutes later Champagne managed to luckily turn away a header by Alberto De la Bella.
With nine minutes to go, an unfortunate defensive moment ended up with Oviedo taking the lead. With the away goalkeeper out of his area, Ibra put his side ahead from distance. Then in time added on, Rafa Mir brought his side level with the aid of a slip up by the home goalkeeper, letting the ball creep through his legs and into the net.
