Leioa falls again and says goodbye to the dream of the ‘play-off’

The second consecutive defeat and the fourth day in a row without seeing the door make the aspiration of getting into the play-off for possible promotion almost impossible for a Leioa surpassed by Lagun Onak (1-0). A solitary goal from Gereta in the first half fairly decided the Garmendipe duel. The clash started with a well-placed Leioa and placed many minutes in the rival field. Of course, the visitors lacked to step more on the opposite area.

The first occasion was from the local side in a misunderstanding between Cabanas and the goalkeeper Mandaluniz that Iradi picked up, whose Vaseline went high for very little. This occasion marked the turning point of the match, since, the following minute, Lagun Onak went ahead on the scoreboard. Jagoba stole the ball from San Vicente when the central defender came out driving and, after a quick combination, Gereta stayed in front of Mandaluniz to score the only goal of the match from a cross shot. Lagun Onak’s chances followed one another without any response from Leioa. Only the lack of success of the attackers of the local team prevented a larger figure. In the first place, a low cross from Iradi found no finisher after avoiding Mandaluniz and walking around the entire small area.

Iradi himself had the clearest opportunity in a long ball from the defense that he picked up to stay alone against Mandaluniz, but he defined very high from inside the area. The second half was much more balanced than the first, which was not enough to establish the equalizer, as Leioa was unrecognizable in attack and barely intimidated goalkeeper Otaño. Lagun Onak, located in the middle of the classification, did not take risks. In this context of little football and a lot of dedication at the foot of the pitch, the Gipuzkoan team, which exhausted the quota of five substitutions, moved like a fish in water and avoided any attack action by Leioa. In fact, the clearest chances in the final stretch were local. One of the revulsive of Lagun Onak, Garmendia, forgave the second goal twice, first with a ball that was dead inside the area and that came out very focused and, later, Leioa being overturned beyond the 90th minute, in a center-shot that came out brushing the post of Mandaluniz’s goal. The only really dangerous action by Leioa in the entire game came in a header from Huidobro that went wide of the mark.