Stalemate in play off race
Real Oviedo were frustratingly held to a goalless draw by a determined Zaragoza outfit on Saturday night at the Carlos Tartiere.
Fernando Hierro had kept faith with the same starting eleven from last weeks disappointing 2-2 draw at Gimnastic where Real Oviedo had to settle for a point after throwing away a two goal lead.
After a scrappy start Real Oviedo carved out the first chance on 17 minutes when Carlos De Pena played a one-two with Toche before trying to lift the ball over the onrushing Raton but the visiting keeper saved well.
Midway through the first half and Oviedo had a double chance to break the deadlock. Neat interplay between Nando & Susaeta resulted in an attempt for Nando but his effort was superbly blocked. The loose ball fell to Toche but his effort was well saved by Raton. It was the visiting keeper who was far the busier as Oviedo were well on top. The Zaragoza stopper denied Susaeta and Nando once more before the half was over.
On 40 minutes the visitors finally created a chance and it came for their top scorer Angel when he met a long throw in but Juan Carlos was equal to it with a terrific fingertip save.
Into the second half and it was the same story. Real Oviedo versus Raton. Susaeta again denied when the keeper saved his free kick.
On 73 minutes Toche received a wonderful chance but couldn’t seem to sort his feet out and after Cabrera blocked his initial effort he fluffed the rebound over the bar.
Even the introduction of Michu couldn’t find the breakthrough as he headed Erice's centre wide. You couldn’t fault Oviedo for effort, they kept going right to the end in desperate search of a goal. The final chance fell to another sub Saul Berjon but his effort from Susaeta's pull back was blazed wildly over the bar.
In truth the last 5-10 minutes of the game were marred by a mixture of Zaragoza's time wasting and feigning injury. Even the referee had had enough of it and produced two quick fire yellow cards to the goalkeeper Raton. Unfortunately there was no time to make the extra man advantage count and the referee bought a frustrating evening to an end.
You cannot fault the Oviedo players for effort. They gave absolutely everything for the cause but worryingly its now six games without a win.
It’s not a lost cause though as Huesca lost and Valladolid could only manage a draw themselves. We find ourselves in 8th place two points behind Valladolid in 6th with three games to go. You feel the likelihood is we will need to win all of them to reach the play offs. Next week we travel south to play Cordoba.
John Mothershaw
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