UNDERSTANDING THE CURRENT SITUATION FOR UD LANZAROTE

CD UNIÓN PUERTO 2 LANZAROTE 1

The Rojillos will have to win their last remaining league game to guarantee that they don’t have to compete in the relegation playoffs next Sunday following this defeat in Fuerteventura.

The difficulty of playing 10 matches in one month is finally over. Lanzarote will have a full week to prepare for this vital match versus fourth placed side UD Las Palmas C.

The league format is completely different this season and this is emphasized with next Sundays match. If Lanzarote win they will be playing in the promotion playoffs but should they draw or lose they will probably be in the relegation places. Every team in this league will be involved in the playoffs whether it’s to go up or down. To understand it better click on this link https://mercancialanzarote.com/2020/09/22/explaining-the-canarian-league-system-for-2020-21-season/

On a hugely positive note the Lanzarote government are finally allowing a certain amount of fans into the home ground Ciudad Deportiva beginning this Sunday. The Rojillos are the only club in this league not to have been allowed fans this season and not only have they not had the support of their fans but there have been no gate receipts or any bar takings leading to financial difficulties.

The club has scraped by and the mood in the camp is and has been throughout the season extremely positive. We understand fans may be frustrated but everyone at the club has worked tirelessly to bring us to where we are. After that dreadful start without a pre season Lanzarote had played seven matches and had accumulated just four points and were cemented to the bottom of the league.

In one month and without being able to train together as a unit whilst other teams had a huge advantage of full training sessions, a match every week with fans, Lanzarote dug themselves out of this pit and up to sixth spot going into the last match with their destiny in their own hands. This should be viewed as a tremendous achievement.

As soon as we have details on tickets for this match I will post but quite possibly tickets for the game will need to be bought prior to the match, Gold Card members will obviously have priority and have already paid but then after that it will be a first come, first served basis.

On yesterdays match the home side had everything to play for. They began and ended the day in seventh position but are now on level points with the Rojillos.

Ayoze Pérez gave Lanzarote a 0-1 lead midway through the first half with an outstanding individual goal. He picked the ball up inside his own area and broke free calmly slotting the ball home from the edge of the penalty area.

The home side levelled in the 31^st minute, a deep cross from the right found striker Samuel at the far post, his downward header left keeper Alejandro with no chance and the Fuerteventura side began to look the stronger of the two sides.

At the beginning of the second half possession was equal but in the seventh minute Rojillos sub Machín had two good chances to regain his sides lead in the space of a minute. Firstly, he was put through down the right flank with just the keeper to beat albeit from a narrow angle. Unfortunately his attempted chip over the keeper went completely wrong and seconds later he did so well to stretch and get his foot on the end of a cross from the right but the ball flew over the crossbar.

The locals began to up the tempo and in the 19^th minute had a huge penalty call denied then three minutes later Alejandro saved brilliantly from a strike from six yards to keep his side with their narrow lead but it wasn’t to last.

One minute on and Miguel Gopar got the wrong side of his defender and in trying to recover clipped his heel and Unión Puerto were awarded a penalty. Liñares blasted the spot kick to Alejandro´s right and even though the Rojillos keeper got a hand to it, the power made it unstoppable and the hosts took a 2-1 lead.

The Rojillos tried to fight back but after such a gruelling month energy levels just couldn’t be maintained and had to accept a narrow but just 2-1 defeat.

Going into this last game there are four teams in a battle to avoid the relegation playoffs with just one safety net available. There are so many possible outcomes that it would confuse a betting syndicate. It will not come down to goal difference, it will come down to which team did the best against the other in the two league matches.

Should Lanzarote finish on level points with UD Villa Santa Brigída then Lanzarote would be safe as we drew with them 0-0 at home and won 0-1 away, however if we finished on the same points as UD Guía then they would be safe as they beat us at home 2-1 and drew away 1-1. There is one simple fact and that is if Lanzarote win they will avoid the relegation playoffs and join the promotion playoffs.

GOALS