For 54 minutes, the parish of Mabegondo (A Coruña), with less than 1,000 inhabitants, dreamed that its San Tirso, a team from the Galician Regional Preferente, would work the miracle against Espanyol, but this time Goliath did what was expected of him and the blue and white team achieved a hard-fought victory thanks to three goals from Véliz and another goal from Cardona and with it qualification for the second round of the Copa del Rey.
“There are many footballers who work before the game. “Someone has asked for a couple of hours at the fruit shop or the supermarket in the afternoon to play against a first team.” Fabio Rodríguez, coach of San Tirso, confirmed in the preview the difficulties his men faced in fulfilling their dream of playing in this match, won by fire after overcoming four consecutive eliminatory rounds on penalties.
Pol Lozano left injured and will be a doubt against Barça
The match was tougher than expected for Manolo González’s team, which formed with the second unit, but with few players from the reserve team. A missed penalty (by Pere Milla), three shots on the post and several, more than desirable, chances conceded to the rival created an atmosphere of uncertainty in the A Coruña stadium during the first half. San Tirso did not allow itself to be dominated and proposed a one-on-one match. And with each attempt by the parakeets, the modest Galician team fought back with courage.
As the minutes passed, fatigue came and with it the spaces in the local defense. Véliz took advantage of it to vindicate himself against the criticism and star in his first big night as a blue and white. The Argentine’s first, at the beginning of the second act, came after a good pass from Cardona from inside the area. The game came within that short distance until the last ten minutes, when Espanyol unleashed itself. Cardona scored the second from a pass from Ünuvar, who was returning after injury. Véliz achieved the third after an error in a delivery from a central defender. The Argentine achieved the hat-trick on a counterattack in added time.
The worst news for the blue and white was the injury of Pol Lozano, who retired with a muscle problem and will be a doubt for the derby against Barça.
#Véliz #unblocks #Espanyol #Riazor
