Oviedo slide to narrow defeat
Real Oviedo went down 2-1 as they made the long trip south to Andalusia to face Cordoba at the Nueva Arcangel. All the goals came in the first half and a brave effort in the second half wasn’t enough to earn a point for Los Carbayones.
Sergio Egea made just one change from last week's victory at Huesca with Toche coming in to replace the injured Linares.
Oviedo got off to the worst possible start when the home side took the lead after just 6 minutes. Luso headed out wide to Fidel. He cut inside from the right hand side of the penalty box beating two defenders before unleashing a left footed drive that took a deflection and flat footed Esteban and flew into the net. It was the perfect start for the home side that started the game 2 points ahead of Oviedo.
Things got worse for Oviedo on the quarter hour mark when the home side doubled their lead. Cordoba captain Xisco played a through ball for Nando who rounded Esteban and gobbled up the chance rolling the ball into the empty net. The Oviedo players were furious that the flag had not been raised for offside and TV replays showed they had a strong case as the goal scorer had strayed into an offside position as the ball was played. The goal however was allowed to stand.
Oviedo were not going to throw in the towel though and stuck to their plan and as the half went on started to create chances. Susaeta tested Razak in the home goal with a snapshot from the edge of the area after Kone's effort was blocked. Toche had a chance but shot just over from a tight angle after a Valle pass.
Toche and Kone then combined to set up Susaeta on the edge of the area but he couldn’t keep his effort down. Then on 38 minutes Oviedo deservedly hauled themselves back into the game. Susaeta teed up Johannesson down the right hand side. His low cross was met by Kone at the near post but Razak pulled off a fine reflex save. Unfortunately for the goalkeeper the ball looped up in the air and Toche was first to react and bundled the ball over the line. This time it was Cordoba's turn to be unhappy with the officials as they felt the striker had used an arm to put the ball in. There was certainly no intention by the striker. This was the last action of any note in the first half as whistles from the home fans greeted the half time whistle.
The second half failed to live up the first half in terms of goal scoring opportunities but there was no lack of endeavour from both sides. It would be fair to say both sides tightened up defensively after the break. Oviedo came desperately close to an equaliser on the hour mark after a superb counter attack that resulted in Pena whipping in a cross for Kone. Just as the striker was about to nod home, the defender just managed to get his head to it to take the chance away from Kone.
Real Oviedo kept going all the way to the end and on 89 minutes came the best chance of the second half. Hervias whipped in a free kick and there was Toche sliding in to meet the ball but his effort trickled agonisingly wide of the left hand post.
The two players combined again in the third minute of stoppage time but in a more difficult chance Toche could only head wide and Oviedo's last chance was gone. The whistle sounded and Cordoba celebrated going top of the table. As for Oviedo, we can be proud of our efforts as we never gave in and kept going right to the end against a good side.
Next week we return to the Carlos Tartiere for a first ever meeting with Llagostera.
Hala Oviedo!
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