An epic Leganes wins against Valencia and still believes in survival (1-0)

C.D Leganés won against Valencia C.F at Butarque (1-0) on an epic match. The pepineros got the lead with a penalty kick goal by Rubén Pérez, played 40 minutes with 10 players and Cuéllar stopped a penalty kick by Parejo

C.D Leganes’ starting line-up was the same of the previous two games with the only substitution of Awaziem who replace Bustinza because of an injury. The pepineros started the match with energy and intensity. Valencia got the first important occasion of the match on the 7’ after a shot by Guedes that kicked the crossbar. Lega had their first chance just one minute later when Aitor Ruibal got in the area, but the defenders managed to kick off the ball.

After the continuous attacks and pressure, a penalty kick arrived for Lega. Rubén Pérez scored it and Leganes started winning 1-0 from the 15’ minute. Valencia, with the intention of coming back into the match, started to leave some spaces and Leganes started to counterattack without any success.

It was a good first half for the pepineros who were organized and did not concede many options. Kevin Rodrigues was forced to leave on the 21’ and was replaced by Bryan Gil. It was 1-0 after the first half.

Jonathan Silva’s red card and Cuéllar’s save

Things were about to get difficult for Leganes after the half-time. Jonathan Silva was sent off by the referee eight minutes after the restart on a play that was reviewed by VAR. Just five minutes after that, Melero López called a penalty kick for Valencia after a hand-ball: Parejo kicked the ball but Cuéllar stopped it with a great save.

Javier Aguirre started making some changes in the team: Roque Mesa replaced Guerrero. Leganes started playing with a 5-3-1 scheme with Bryan as a forward. The young player had the chance to increase the lead, but his kick went up. The white and blues defended all the attacks by the valencianistas who put more attacking players in the pitch.

Great physical and defensive job by the team

Recio and Avilés got into the putch on the 85’ to play the last minutes of the match. Seven more minutes of extra time helped Valencia to continue attacking but Leganes hold the result till the end to get the three points.

The pepineros have now 32 points in the league just three points away from survival. Their next match will be next Thursday (21:00h) against Athletic Club at San Mamés.