C.D. Leganés collected another point at the Estadio Municipal Butarque in their game against C.D. Lugo (1-1) in what was the eighth match of the LaLiga SmartBank. Shibasaki put the pepineros in front at the start of the second half, but Carrillo responded for the visitors in the 55'.
Save for Jon Bautista's absence, Asier Garitano adopted the same starting XI as the previous two games, with Sabin Merino slotting in for the missing man. Before kickoff, Javi Eraso and Unai Bustinza were honoured with awards for completing 200 and 150 official games for the club.
Randjelovic had the clearest chance to go in front during the first half
Lugo were the first in the game to challenge the keeper, but Señé's shot was stopped comfortably by Iván Villar. Leganés accelerated up the other end but balls from neither Javi Hernández nor Bárcenas could find a man in the box. In the 8' Chris Ramos's effort fed into another counter, with Randjelovic crossing the ball from out left to find Sabin Merino, but the striker could not bring the ball under control in the six-yard box to finish off the sequence.
Leganés did not lack in offensive ambition and Fede Vico's switch to the back post in the 20' was almost volleyed flawlessly into the back off the net by Randjelovic, who was left frustrated by a sharp reaction from Vieites. Bárcenas launched another effort soon after in the 23' to demand even more from Vieites, as the team kept looking to create through their midfield of Pardo, Gaku and Fede Vico. The last chance in the half fell to Sabin Merino, but went unconverted, bringing the first 45 to a close at 0-0.
Shibasaki opens for Leganés and Carrillo levels for Lugo
Leganés' efforts were finally rewarded with a thunderous start to the second half when Gaku launched a rocket from outside the box directly past the Lugo keeper in the 47', the Japanese midfielder's first goal of the season. However, the celebrations were shortlived as Lugo snuck in an equaliser in the 55' through Carrillo.
Leganés chased after the lead, coming close again with Randjelovic in the 60'. Even closer was Sabin in the 62' with a right footer that just curled wide of the top corner. Garitano replenished the attack in the 65' with a double change to introduce José Arnaiz and Borja Garcés for Randjelovic and Sabin Merino. Then in the 75' Bárcenas unfortunately got in the way of Rubén Pardo's strike to direct the pepinero effort wide.
As we entered the final 10 minutes, Asier swapped Naim in for Fede Vico. The homegrown player made a pronounced entrance with a left footer that only narrowly disappointed. The final opportunity to score for the pepineros came in injury time for Borja Garcés, but he could not keep his shot low enough to hit the target. The draw (1-1) marks the third consecutive week unbeaten for Leganés, boasting 7 points out of a possible 9 and with their gaze turned to next Sunday 10th October when they face C.F. Fuenlabrada at the Fernando Torres at 21:00 CEST.
