Friday, May 18th, 2012
It had to be on of six and in the end it was Deportivo La Coruña who were the unfortunate ones to down to Segunda División. The Galician side knew a win would guarantee safety but any other result ran the risk of finishing in the bottom three. Deportivo fans packed the Riazor for the visit of Valencia but within three minutes their side were 0-1 down when Aduriz turned in a Joaquín cross. The home side had two good chances to draw level but on both occasions Riki fired over the bar. The same player then hit the post from close range as it increasingly looked liked it wouldn’t be Deportivo’s day. In the second half the home side continued to desperately search for an equaliser and once again their best chances fell to Riki who once again failed to hit the target. All Deportivo’s attacking was leaving space at the back and Juan Mata almost wrapped the game up but for a good save from the home keeper. The game had now opened right up with both teams having chances. Aduriz and Soldado could have scored on the break while Cesar pulled off an excellent save to keep Deportivo at bay. Despite having numerous chances, it just wasn’t Deportivo’s day and five minutes into stoppage time Soldado sealed the match and the home side’s relegation when he slotted home Valencia’s second the wrap things up.
Deportivo’s defeat meant their only hope was for Zaragoza to lose away to Levante. Unfortunately for the Galician’s, the Aragonese side didn’t slip up. Javier Aguirre’s side were on the front foot from the beginning and went close through a Lafita drive from the edge of the box. Zaragoza’s next effort also came from distance as Ander Herrera had a shot tipped wide. Uche then had a goal disallowed before Zaragoza finally took the lead on 38 minutes when Gabi curled an excellent free-kick into the top corner. In the second-half the game continued to be a case of one-way traffic with Zaragoza hitting the crossbar before Gabi scored his second of the game to give the visitors some breathing space. A Stauni header gave the Zaragoza fans a nervy end to the match but their team held on for a deserved win and the guarantee of La Liga football for another season.
Perhaps the biggest beneficiary of Deportivo’s loss were Real Mallorca who stayed up despite losing 3-4 at home to Atlético Madrid. The islanders knew a defeat could send them down and got off to the worst possible start when Kun Aguero fired the visitors in front. Five minutes later things went from bad to worse when Juanfran doubled Atlético’s lead. The home side now faced the serious possibility of going down and pushed for a way back into the game. However, time and time again De Gea denied them with some safe goalkeeping. On 58 minutes Atlético added their third of the evening when Aguero curled in a beautiful shot from the edge of the box. Two minutes later though, Mallorca pulled one back when De Guzman converted a penalty awarded for handball. With twenty minutes to go, Webo reduced the deficit further when he powered a header past De Gea. Mallorca had a few good chances to draw level before being punished for slack defending. With ten minutes to go Aguero wriggled his way past several tackles before lifting the ball over the goalkeeper to complete his hat-trick. The two goal lead lasted barely a minute as Webo headed home his second of the game to make it 3-4. There were no more goals to come as Mallorca’s slip up didn’t prove costly due to events elsewhere.
Going into the last weekend, a lot of eyes had been on Anoeta where two teams facing possible relegation faced each other. Real Sociedad and Getafe knew a win would guarantee safety while a defeat coupled with other results would result in relegation. The most logical result was a draw and that is exactly what happened. Real Sociedad came out fired up but it was the visitors who took the lead when Cata Díaz touched home a free-kick. The home side needed an equaliser to settle the nerves and it finally came on 65 minutes when Sutil headed home a free-kick. With favourable results elsewhere, both teams were happy to see out the remainder of the match without any difficulties and both teams can now look forward to another season in the top flight.
The final match involving a possible relegation candidate took place at the Reyno de Navarro stadium where Osasuna took on Villarreal. Like every other candidate, Osasuna knew a win would guarantee safety and cheered on by a large and noisy support, the home side attacked from the off. After spells of long pressure, Cejudo finally scored what proved to the be the only goal of the game as he turned a volleyed home from the edge of the box to secure another year of top flight football in Pamplona.
Tags: Deportivo Relegated, La Liga Relegation
