CÓRDOBA PONFERRADINA PROMOTION PLAY OFF

A night of emotions

A Córdoba CF full of emotions due to the reception given by the fans in El Arcángel and for the a cappella anthem of more than 21,000 followers who gathered at the riverside coliseum, he took to the field with the eleven that was planned, that is, the one who already did it a week ago in El Toralín.

Ponferradina, for their part, took to the field with the lesson, apparently, well learned. Very high pressure to not let Córdoba CF leave, not even in fits and starts. Ania’s team could not make two passes in a row and it seemed that the Bercian team was going to make the Blanquiverde suffer, at least in that first quarter of the game.

Ponferradina’s plan barely lasted five minutes. What Córdoba CF needed to mount a relatively clean counterattack with Diarra and Kuki Zalazar, who with one touch, connected with a Antonio Casas that with the tip of his boot he got rid of Sibille to shoot Andrés Prieto. Juanfran’s team found themselves unable to close the pressure space in any of their lines and the green and white top scorer, in a detail of quality nine, got rid of the blue and white defender to burst Deportiva’s goal.

A serious Ponferradina

Juanfran did not change the plan, despite the 1-0. Clavería or Igbekeme in front of the defense, with Dacosta and Yeray on the wings and Ernesto and Borja Valle up front. A brave Ponferradina throughout the first act, match in which he did not lose face, despite the score, but Adrián Lapeña once again found a crack in the not so rocky Bercian system. A pass from the Riojan to Kuki Zalazar, crouched between the blue and white lines, gave the opportunity to mount another quick transition that ended with a great cross from the Uruguayan to Antonio Casas, who headed relatively comfortably, but too high (min. 13).

Continuously staring into the abyss, Deportiva desperately claimed an alleged penalty by Adrián Lapeña on Sibille after a corner kick, but Campos Salinas, with good judgment, ignored Bercia’s protests (min. 17). Gradually, Córdoba CF managed to combine more and more, those in white and green connected with the ball on more than three consecutive occasions starting in the first quarter, but Iván Ania’s team was still not comfortable. Ponferradina managed to generate, although without adding clear chances. Dacosta gave problems on the left and Borja Valle or Ernesto managed to have some presence. But, as mentioned, without generating danger in the green and white area at the halfway point of the first half.

In the 26th minute, Campos Salinas annulled a goal against Córdoba CF due to offside by Kuki Zalazar, who pushed the ball over the goal line after a pass from Antonio Casas. But the play that preceded it, with more than a dozen passes and some dribbles by Adilson or Diarra, was a clear example that Iván Ania’s team was controlling the match more and better, no matter how much Ponferradina tried to score. match time. There it was proven that Córdoba CF was not only the owner of the scoreboard. And all this supported by a physical condition that has definitely changed in recent weeks. Just as the Córdoba CF of March or April was far from being the one of November or January, the current green and white team has shown a new peak in recent weeks in the physical aspect and one of the examples was already given by men like Isma Ruiz, Carlos Albarran or Yussi Diarra, among others, in the El Toralín match. In El Arcángel it was once again evident that Córdoba CF has also grown physically and that detail will help them, and not a little, in the final against the Barça reserve team, a team that, like the green and white team, also likes to run .

In the second part, the madness

The last quarter hour of the match served for Córdoba CF to sign two new arrivals to the Bercian area and to see how Deportiva crashed against the good green and white system. Not even with a set piece could the Leon team surprise Córdoba CF, no matter how hard they tried with a lateral foul and a corner kick that did not even find a final finisher.

La Deportiva came out in the second half forgetting about the score. Both El Toralín and El Arcángel. He managed to get more play in Córdoba CF’s field and even Yeray made a good play with a shot that went too high. Furthermore, Juanfran once again managed to prevent the green and white team from coming out with the ball controlled from behind and they stole several balls in a three-quarter line. Of course, with the same result as in the rest of the meeting: no occasion to add to encourage the Bercian parish.

But his opportunity came to Deportiva. It is true that he was in a green and white defensive deployment along the back line, but it was worth it to Juanfran’s team. A clearance by Adilson was collected by Igbekeme, whose bitten shot fell to Borja Valle’s feet, alone on the edge of the small area, to beat Carlos Marín (min. 62).

Nerves took over Córdoba CF and concern visited El Arcángel in the 70th minute, when a cross from Yeray was cleared with a fist by Carlos Marín and the rebound was collected by Ernesto, whose shot crashed into the side of the net of the green and white goal. It was clear that Borja Valle’s goal had unmounted to Córdoba CF and that Ponferradina tried to take advantage of that tension, which resulted in several warnings, when in the first hour of the game Campos Salinas did not have to pull the cards.

The asylum, in ten minutes

But the game had in that final stretch something that it suffered from in the first 80 minutes: emotion and tension. With the tie apparently resolved, the duel at times seemed like just another game. With Borja Valle’s goal, we saw playoff scenes again: tension, passes to the limit, tackles on the verge of a warning… In short, Córdoba CF-Ponferradina finally seemed like what it really was: a final to reach the final for promotion. In the 82nd minute, after an unsuccessful counterattack by Diarra, El Arcángel exploded, cheering for his team with scarves blowing in the wind, aware of what Córdoba CF was at stake: “We will be great again, we will rise again.”

A header from Lapeña after a corner kick from Kike Márquez went just over the top (84′) and the game already seemed completely broken. So much so that there was even a hint of a tangana caused by Sibille pushing Simo (min. 86), followed by another scuffle when Campos Salinas did not respond to the signals of his assistant in the Bercian attack.

With El Arcángel turned into a madhouse, Campos Salinas declared a penalty for an apparent slap by Sibille on Simo and Kike Márquez, the captain of Córdoba CF, went determined to get the ball. He put it on the penalty spot, ready to take the maximum penalty. The Sanluqueño started and took a powerful shot to the right of Andrés Prieto, close to the squad and El Arcángel exploded: “Oh, damn it, we’re going to get promoted!” A chant repeated after about the last five minutes in which there was everything. Two sent off, a save by Carlos Marín and even Andrés Prieto going up to finish off a corner kick on two occasions in favor of the Bercian team. The Archangel said goodbye to his team among songs of future promotion and with a striking detail: no one left the riverside coliseum to sing the Córdoba CF anthem again. A detail that was seen for the first time. At least for the first time in many years. It is still true that something is changing at Córdoba CF.

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