Eight years later Deportivo returned to the First Division and earned a point, a puntiño, as Arsenio Iglesias would say, the club’s reference who for so many years preached the prosperity of order and talent. And there, years after those glories led by the remembered coach and in such a long-awaited return, is one of the nine league champions, who tries to get organized but seeks talent. It does not always find it. The restart among the greats ended with a draw (1-1) against a good Elche with whom it is presumed it will compete to avoid relegation in the standings and who has a one-year advantage in the category. It is not a small achievement.
Read more The end of the conflict recedes after the agreement between the United States and Iran expires
The match had substance, but lacked football and also the usual atmosphere at Riazor because the noisiest section is at odds with the club and decided not to cheer the team, dressed in orange to make their protest visible. There was struggle, sweat, intensity, tactics, but barely a couple of flashes of magic. It is not a matter of expecting showmanship between squads called to fight for survival in the category, even though Deportivo is eager to relive old glories and Elche comes from a campaign in which it showed tools that encourage the intuition of consolidation among the greats. It is not that simple. In this hard-nosed football, Riazor hosted two cautious teams, aware of the damage transitions can cause and therefore careful in ball circulation. What normally happens in these situations occurred, the match closed down. Aubameyang opened it in an episodic action because in this football of details, talent always, and more than ever, rules. And the veteran Gabonese striker with a career at Arsenal, Chelsea, Barcelona, or Marseille has arrived in A Coruña at 37 years old to show the world that he is still active, perhaps not as in his best times, but at least at a level sufficient to make a difference in many matches of one of the best leagues in the world. He did it in a finish that portrays him as an extraordinary player by bringing down a long pass from Amatucci from the sky, controlling the ball with the outside of his right foot with something like a ballet step, and crossing it with his left foot into the net.
It was a great goal. And it came almost halfway through the first half in which the scrapping kept the fight away from the goalkeepers. Leo Román, the goalkeeper for whom Deportivo paid a 9 million release clause to Mallorca, intervened at the start of the match to stop an attempt by Houary. Elche started more vertically, but soon stopped. Or rather, the defensive structure of Deportivo stopped them. Coach Antonio Hidalgo had already announced that the ball would belong to the opponent, so he gathered the team to wait for their moment. He offered few gaps, a detail that is important for a newly promoted team and more so against a presumed direct rival. And when there was a crack, the goalkeeper was there to cover almost all of them.
Read more One week after the earthquake in Colombia: From reconstruction to the active search for survivors
Román grew huge to put up a wall in front of the home goal in a double attempt by Fer Niño and Gonzalo Villar when the clock was nearing the hour mark. The incident spurred the coaches to make two changes per side, but especially Hidalgo to seek fresh legs in midfield. For this, he found Diego Villares by his side, a Deportivo survivor who spent four years in the third tier of Spanish football, captain of the team that in two seasons in the Second Division made the leap to the elite. Near the glitter of stars like Aubameyang are guys like Villares, who, like more than half of Dépor, made their debut in the First Division. And it was time to run to keep the lead on the scoreboard because Elche pressed and did so until they reached a draw that was worked on for many minutes. They equalized on a local lapse in one of those treacherous second actions after a corner kick in which Marc Aguado, who is not exactly Fernando Romay, was smart enough to get ahead at the near post of both sides and head into the net.
Deportivo fought back but attacked with more enthusiasm than tools. They missed the almost always crucial contribution of Mario Soriano, their beacon with the ball, who left the match before its end after wearing himself out in chases. The goal conceded hurt the Coruña team, but they also did not find a way to rebel against an Elche that seemed well worked and fought to scrape a point in a toothless finish from both teams. There is much rowing left for everyone.
Read more Chess Videos | There’s Always Time to Surrender
| Standings | PT | PJ | PG | PE | PP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Standings | PT | PJ | PG | PE | PP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
