C.D. Leganés earned an important point in their visit to Rayo Vallecano (1-1), in a match of the thirty-eighth round of LaLiga SmartBank. Miguel de la Fuente gave Los Pepineros the lead in the first half, and Trejo, after a VAR penalty, equalized for Los Franjirrojos in the second half.
Asier Garitano started with the same team that started against Real Sporting last time out, with the only novelty being the presence of Miguel de la Fuente at the front of the attack, replacing the injured Borja Bastón. Miguel and Álvaro García made the first approaches for both teams in a match that started with rhythm.
Miguel gave Leganés the lead in the first quarter of an hour.
It was the 13th minute when Leganés took the lead. Eraso received a ball with space in front of him, put it to Miguel de la Fuente's run and the player from Valladolid, in front of Dimitrievski's exit, crossed it to put the 0-1 on the scoreboard. It was the second goal of the '29' pepinero in the current season.
Leganés were looking for the second against a Rayo that did not give up. Nearing the half-hour mark, neither referee Trujillo Suárez nor the VAR assessed as a penalty a handball by Advíncula inside the area after a header by Omeruo. On 34', Asier Garitano was forced to make his first substitution, bringing on Sergio González in place of Omeruo, who was suffering from discomfort in the back of his thigh. Javi Hernández, from a corner, had the chance for the second, but the defense blocked his shot. The score was 0-1 at halftime.
Trejo, after a penalty flagged by the VAR, equalized for Rayo.
After the restart, Leganés made another substitution due to physical problems: Sabin Merino came on in place of José Arnaiz. In 57', the VAR did alert Trujillo Suárez to review a fall of Isi in the area, indicating it for Trejo to score the equalizer and put the 1-1 on the scoreboard. Midway through the second half it was Rubén Pardo who replaced Miguel to give more control to the midfield.
Rayo Vallecano pressed, and Riesgo saved from Óscar Valentín in minute 74' in an action that was already being called a goal. Rodri Tarín and Kevin Bua entered the final stretch, in which the Vallecanos pressed in search of the winning goal. However, it was Sabin Merino who had the clearest chance to win the match: in the 94th minute, he headed a cross from Shibasaki that crashed against the post.
There was no time for more and, with the draw, Leganés remained fourth with 63 points, three points behind third place and maintaining a five-point advantage, plus the goalaverage, over seventh-placed Rayo Vallecano, with four games to go. The next match for the pepineros will be this Sunday (21:30) against U.D. Logroñés at Butarque.
