Paco López: "We were superior once again, but without killing the game—and without killing it, what we did isn’t enough"

C.D. Leganés head coach Paco López spoke this Saturday in the post‑match press conference after the pepinero side faced U.D. Las Palmas at the Ontime Butarque Stadium, in a Matchday 6 fixture of LALIGA HYPERMOTION, which ended in a 0–1 away victory.

The coach assessed the match as follows:

Change from the first to the second half: "We played a really good first half once again, even better than against Deportivo and Cádiz. The shame is that we struggle a lot to finish our chances. We finished one move and it went wide by a millimetre. Taking the lead against teams like these makes a big difference. Then their goal came in the 6th minute from a lapse defending a throw‑in, which we have to defend better. That millimetre went in their favour. After the sending‑off, it became very difficult for us."

Cissé’s second yellow card: "I didn’t see it. I’m told he’s grabbed first and comes out unbalanced, but I can’t assess it. He’s devastated—he says he’s fouled first. These are decisions that haven’t gone our way. We were superior once again, but without killing the game, and without killing it, what we’ve done isn’t enough. We went man for man, we won duels, second balls, against a great team like Las Palmas."

Offsides: "We have to trust the technology—there’s nothing else we can do. When it goes in our favour, in the long run it will balance out. If we want to favour the spectacle, in situations like these that aren’t clear at all, maybe they should be allowed. But since the rule is what it is now, we have to trust that millimetre being up or down. Once it went to VAR, we all feared the worst."

Duk: "His efforts are very explosive, and obviously in second halves, physically, it’s normal that he can’t last the full ninety minutes. It was a position where we were already short, like last week, but he played a sensational first half."

Juan Cruz: "We’re used to seeing him closer to the touchline, but he has talent and is very good one‑on‑one. We’re trying to leave that wide lane for Duk so Juan can receive between the lines and move freely. In the final third he can give you that last pass or a goal. Normally he can make the difference, which is why we have him there, but structures and match plans change."

Still without a home win: "I’d be worried if the team weren’t creating chances. Cádiz, Deportivo and Las Palmas have come here—very high‑level teams. I’m satisfied with what we’ve shown and proposed, but we would have liked to win all three matches. If you don’t kill them when you have them against the ropes, they have talent and what happened today or against Deportivo can happen."

Lack of finishing: "We have to keep working and insisting on improving in those finishing areas. We’re lacking accuracy in decision‑making, which is a shame because if you analyse the first half, we created a lot. We have to keep insisting, because if we’re brave and bold against these teams, we have to hurt them more."

First‑half performance: "It’s very close to what we want to be as a team. Las Palmas have very talented players. We still have room for improvement, and in those final meters we have to define better and be more ruthless to finish the opponent off when you have them against the ropes."