Tropezon 0 Real Oviedo 2

Oviedo pick up maximum points again on the road 

Linares on the mark again

Real Oviedo opened up a 2 point gap at the top of the table with a professional display against Tropezon. A goal in each half doing the job against the home side. This fixture had been moved from Tropezon’s usual home ground to the new Malecon which is home of nearby club Gimnastica de Torrelavega as Tropezon’s Santa Ana stadium only has a small capacity.

Sergio Egea bought back his big guns back for this fixture after surprisingly resting them during the Real Sociedad tie. In came Linares, Hector Font & Nestor Susaeta. Generlo was also in midfield with Omgba dropping to the bench. Young left back Oscar also kept his place after an impressive performance against the la liga side. Dani Bautista with a slight knock but Egea opted not to risk him.

The match got underway and it wasn’t long before you realised it was going to be tough afternoon for free flowing football as the pitch was very bobbly and players were miss-controlling the ball on both sides. This cost Oviedo an early goal as Nacho whipped in a low cross for Linares at the near post but as he was about to shoot the ball skipped up and hit him in the midriff before bouncing harmlessly into the keepers grasp. It was however making for an interesting game. Luis Alberto had the first attempt for the visitors when he fizzed a rasping drive just past the post. It wasn’t long though before Oviedo grabbed the game and possession by the scruff of the neck. Borja Valle, making his first league start was causing problems down the left and he nearly created the opening goal for Linares but his near perfect cross was flicked away in the nick of time by the defender. Valle himself had a chance on 26 minutes but his header at the far post from Font’s deep cross went over the bar. The opening goal did come and it was no surprise that it was Valle who got the goal. He picked the ball up on the edge of the area from Susaeta’s reverse pass before beating his man and smashing a low drive under Ivan in the Tropezon goal. It was a terrific way to mark his first league start. 

The second half started brightly for the visitors as Susaeta tried his luck from a free kick after he had been cynically hacked down by Igor just outside the box but the keeper punched the swerving ball to safety. Tropezon had a massive chance though 10 minutes in the second half and it was that man Igor again. He connected wonderfully well with a whipped in free kick but his powerful header smacked against the crossbar and away to safety. After this scare Real Oviedo were determined to keep the ball and that’s exactly what they did, controlling possession. They were playing a smart game, wearing down a Tropezon side who as the game went on were beginning to tire. This is when we knew more chances would come our way as the home side tired but pushed forward for that equaliser and more space would develop. This is what duly happened, Linares on 75 minutes received a long ball over the top of defence before controlling well and curling a shot towards the top corner. Ivan pulled off a super save to keep the score down. It wasn’t long though before the second goal arrived and it was that man Linares again. Sub Sergio Garcia burst into the area before squaring for Linares whose first effort was blocked by the keeper but Linares stroked home the rebound for Oviedo’s second and incredibly his 20^th goal of the season. An amazing statistic given the fact we are not even half way through the season as yet.

We could have added a third in stoppage time through Susaeta and Linares but their efforts were denied by a defender on the line and the goalkeeper respectively but it didn’t matter as the whistle sounded to round off a great display with the final score Tropezon 0 Real Oviedo 2. It was a thoroughly professional performance in which we controlled large chunks of possession throughout and limited our hosts to just 2-3 chances but could have scored more ourselves. This result was made all the better by the fact we were the only team in the top 4 to win after Guijuelo and Murcia both drew their games and UD Logrones lost 4-2 at Celta B. This strengthens our position at the top of the table where we are 2 points clear. We are also 8 points clear of 5^th place Coruxo. Next week we are back to home comforts when we entertain Compostela at the Carlos Tartiere.