No party, but Pucela escape Ibiza with a win

Copa del Rey

Round 3

Saturday January 16th, 2021

Estadio Municipal, Santa Eulària des Riu, Ibiza, Spain

PEÑA DEPORTIVA 1

Fernando Andrada 13’

(Alejandro Fernández S/O 101’)

REAL VALLADOLID 4

Míchel (Pen.) 62’; Roque Mesa (Pen.) 90+6’, 112’; Óscar Plano 116’

Real Valladolid booked their passage to the next round of the Copa del Rey, but they faced turbulent waters before finally sinking Peña Deportiva.

Sergio’s side made the journey to the island of Ibiza to take on the Segunda B side, and it took extra time and the hosts being reduced to ten men to finally squeeze past their tricky opponents.

The hosts signalled their intent to cause an upset from the very beginning and almost went in front on ten minutes when Antonio Jou hit the post from Alejandro ‘Colau’ Fernández’s cross. It was still a shock when they took the lead inside quarter of an hour through Fernando Andrada. After striker Antonio López had been dispossessed, Colau took advantage of slack defending on the goal-line to roll the ball back to the edge of the box where Andrada stroked a right-footed shot past Roberto, low to the goalkeeper’s right, who was rooted to the spot.

Two minutes later, a nice turn from Toni Villa saw him lose his marker and thread a ball through for Kuki Zalazar, who was forced wide by the defender but still managed to get an effort away from a tight angle, but Fran Martínez had his near post guarded well and stood up to block the shot.

Real Valladolid were unable to make the breakthrough in the first 45 minutes and trudged into the dressing room with the hosts remaining a goal to the good. Sergio opted to make the first of his changes at the intermission, with Kike Pérez making way for Óscar Plano and Roque Mesa replacing Fabián Orellana. These substitutions would prove to play crucial roles in the final outcome of the match.

In a cruel blow, Peña Deportiva were forced to make a change of goalkeeper ten minutes into the second period as Martínez crumpled to the floor while the ball was at the other end of the field with what looked like a muscle tear to his right thigh. The distraught player was helped from the field and replaced by Javi Seral.

Shortly after the hour mark, Real Valladolid were back on level terms. Kuki Zalazar was tripped in the box by a clumsy challenge from left-back David Fondarella. Despite his protestations, the foul was given and Míchel stepped up to dispatch the resulting spot-kick low to the bottom left corner, sending Seral the wrong way.

Colau continued to try and make an impression on the scoresheet, drawing a save from Roberto who tipped his looping effort over the bar.

Continuing their struggle to break down a steadfast home defence, Real Valladolid brought on striker Shon Weissman as he was exchanged for Sergio Benito. He thought he had pushed his side ahead, getting the last touch on an Óscar Plano effort bound for goal, but he had strayed into an offside position prior to making contact and the goal was immediately disallowed. This was the closest los Pucelanos came to adding to their tally and the regulation 90 minutes ended with the scores level at one apiece.

A defensive change was facilitated by Sergio, with Javi Sánchez coming on in place of Luis Pérez. Pucela began the extra-time period brightly with several forays forward. Their pressure paid off in the 96th minute, and López conceded the second penalty of the afternoon when he handled in the area from Toni Villa’s delivery. Roque Mesa equalled Míchel’s success from 12 yards out as he calmly netted down the centre with a nonchalant chip for the go-ahead goal.

Deep into the first period of extra time, the hosts were dealt a killer blow as Colau was shown a straight red card for his overexuberance in appealing for a penalty after a handball claim went up as Oriol Rey dealt with a cross into the box.

The expulsion made their task all the harder with ten men and paved the way for an easier second period of extra time for Sergio’s side. Mesa added his second, his team’s third, as he latched onto Plano’s cutback and rifled home confidently on 112 minutes. Four minutes later, the scoring was rounded off by Plano who benefitted from Weissman’s industry. The Israeli approached from the right, drew the goalkeeper out, then slid the ball into the path of the midfielder who took advantage of a tired defence to control and finish with almost no challenge on him.

It was a case of 'job done' for the Blanquivioletas, but it was not without its challenges and the extra labour was not particularly welcome ahead of a crucial match against Elche at home on Tuesday night with an increasingly depleted squad.

PEÑA DEPORTIVA (4-4-2): Francisco Martínez (Javi Seral 55’); David Fondarella, Gonzalo Pereira, Pau Pomar (Carlos Cristeto 79’), Fernando Andrada, Colau, Antonio Jou (Andreu Hernández 64’), Marc De Val (Cristian Cruz 105’), Carlos Gilbert (Nacho López 64’), Antonio López, Miguelete (Iago Parga 105’).

Subs unused: David Crespo, Pau Ferrer.

REAL VALLADOLID (4-2-3-1): Roberto; Ignasi Vilarrasa, Bruno, Luis Pérez (Javi Sánchez 90’, Lucas Freitas 111’), Pablo Hervías, Míchel, Kike Pérez (Óscar Plano 45’), Toni Villa (Oriel Rey 102’), Kuki Zalazar, Fabián Orellana (Roque Mesa 45’), Sergio Benito (Shon Weissman 79’).

Subs unused: None