Rayo Vallecano, with goals from French defender Florian Lejeune and Uruguayan left-back Luis Alfonso Pasha Espino and midfielder Gerard Gumbau beat Kosovo Drita 3-0 this Thursday and achieved a historic qualification directly for the round of 16 of the Conference League.
3
0
Goals 1-0 minutes. 33: Lejeune. 2-0 minutes. 65: Gumbau. 3-0 minutes. 82: Luis Espino.
Arbitrator Urs Schnyder
yellow cards Lejeune (min. 59) and Blerton Sheji (min. 72)
Party scent. This is what was felt at the Vallecas stadium, with a dedicated fan base for one of those matches that remain engraved in the memory and history of a club. Like those of the UEFA Cup in the 2000/2001 season, twenty-five years ago. On this occasion, Rayo received Drita with the advantage of depending on himself to access directly to the round of 16 without having to go through the toll of a playoffs Heads or tails. The opportunity was historic and Rayo did not let it pass. With a very renewed eleven, deprived of two of its pillars, the wingers Isi Palazón and Álvaro García, Rayo entered the field under the command of Unai López, with Fran Pérez and the Romanian Andrei Ratiu on the wings and Sergio Camello as center forward.
From the first minute, the Madrid team took control of the game to the point that, before arriving in the middle of the first half, Drita was already defending with all his players inside his area to stop the continuous attacks of his rival. However, Rayo struggled to find clear chances due to the strong defense imposed by the Kosovars and that is why the most used resource was long-range shots. In one of them, in the 32nd minute, Florian Lejeune managed to open the scoring with a powerful whip for Laurit Behluli.
With an advantage on the scoreboard, Rayo, who had 79% possession in the first half, took off a weight and his game became more fluid because Drita had to change his defensive tactics to try to go back in search of an equalizer, which he did not succeed. The second half changed the tone of the match. The Kosovar team took a step forward and, after four minutes, tested Augusto Batalla with a good play on the right wing which ended with a low shot from Arb Manaj which the Argentine goalkeeper removed with his feet. It was the first of many approaches he had in the Rayo area, almost all of them without danger and well destroyed by the defense of the home team, very well established on the turf with the leadership shown by Lejeune and the Brazilian Luiz Felipe, who, little by little, after a long injury, takes a competitive rhythm and begins to be important.
When it was the grayest, the game was condemned by Rayo at 65 minutes. Ovouka did not understand his goalkeeper and gave him the ball so close and with such speed that Behluli caught it. The referee was clear. Assignment. Gérard Gumbau did not waste the opportunity and, at the entrance to the small area, fired a cross shot into the space left by the defense. From this action, the match no longer had much history because Drita gave up and, very affected in his morale, was not able to create a dangerous play while in the stands the supporters waved their flags in the wind.
Rayo completed its victory with the same protagonist from a week ago against Polish Jagiellonia. Pasha Espino, just out on the grass, made an individual play which ended with a cross shot on goal. With this victory, Rayo finishes the championship phase in fifth position with 13 points, enters directly into the round of 16 and ensures a return home in the event of a draw. Ahead of only the French Strasbourg, leader with 16 points, followed by the Polish Rakow with 14 and Sparta Prague with 13.
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