Fran Sol broke the curse of Vallecas, until now kryptonite for Tenerife and talisman for Rayo. The islanders turned need into ambition and they made the locals feel uncomfortable for practically the entire match. It was not the afternoon of the Madrid, who were thick and ended with one less for the expulsion of Catena in 94 ‘ Neither he nor Trejo will be in Cartagonova. There was no sign of the spirit of Cornellà, something that benefited visitors, who move away from the relegation places. Sun lit the way.
Tenerife was in a hurry and uncorked the game at the minute, with a ball hung by Nono that Luca repelled – the great novelty of the eleven rayista – before Apeh could hook it. The franjirroja replica was not long in coming, in Andrés’ boots, although Dani Hernández suffocated it in two stages. The plans of both contenders were clear: Iraola’s were moving the ball – what they could because of the bad state of the field -; while those of Ramis bet on theft, speed and strategy. Precisely, after a lateral foul, the ball fell to Sipcic inside the area, who controlled it and ended up sending it too high.
The locals began to feel uncomfortable and Tenerife was a continuous stone in the shoe. Vada threw a corner kick and Moore caught it with a volley from the edge that went wide. The visitors, spurred by need, barely gave the Vallecano keeper a break, attentive to disrupt an aerial ball and a heads up with Nono.
Yes, the pulsations went down as the doctors appeared, first due to a blow to Álvaro’s face and then to Folch’s. They only went up, already in the final stretch of the first half, with a poisoned center from Trejo that did not find a finisher and a spark of quality from the Garcia —With Álvaro’s pipe to send it to Fran—, which the visiting goalkeeper sent for a corner.
Andrés hit the target in the second half with a shot that ended up invalidated by the Sevillian’s hand. Neither could Catena catch a loose ball in the area, but green shoots were germinating in the Rayo. Those first minutes were more promising than anything seen so far. Montiel launched a missile from outside the area that Dani Hernández barely cleared and just a few moments later, when Tenerife was suffering the most, he went ahead in a strategy play. The ex of the Franja Nono threw a corner kick and Fran Sol, who entered the race, shot Luca from the penalty spot.
Already in the final stretch, Bermejo tried to sentence and Catena, to tie, but Dani Hernández blocked his head. There was still time to continue this series of catastrophic misfortunes. Catena was expelled (VAR by) for kicking Carlos Ruiz in a jump and only the crossbar prevented Bermejo’s 0-2. Tenerife breathes and Rayo sighs after falling for the third time – the second in a row – in Vallecas this year, thus appeasing his desire for direct promotion …
