Oviedo 2 - Espanyol 2

Oviedo: Esteban; Martinovic, Danjou, Gaspar, Boris; Amieva, Onopko, Tomic (Paunovic 70'), Rubén Reyes (Juanchi González 75'); Geni (Rubén 85'), Oli. 4-4-2.
Espanyol: Mora; Lopo, Soldevilla (Navas 35'), Rotchen; Morales, Velamazán, Sergio (Lardín 80'), Galca, Atreaga; Serrano (Nishizawa 80'), Tamudo. 3-5-2.

Team changes: Oviedo: Onopko, Amieva, Rubén Reyes, Geni for Keita, Jaime, Paunovic, Iván Ania / Espanyol: Lopo, Morales, Arteaga, Serrano for Cristóbal, Navas, Roger, Nishizawa.

Goals:
1-0. 21. Oli. Beat keeper after Soldevilla failed to control Geni cross.
1-1. 49. Sergio. Ran through defence to beat keeper with shot.
2-1. 58. Tomic. From edge of area after Onopko chested back Oli cross.
2-2. 65. Tamudo. Picked up long pass from Sergio to shoot past keeper.

The points were shared in the Nuevo Tartiere stadium between two teams that desperately needed a victory. Neither team had won in over a month, with Oviedo dropping dangerously close to the relegation zone after five defeats in a row and Espanyol only picking up two points in their last four games. Both managers made four changes to their line ups, with Oviedo missing the suspended Keita and Iván Ania but recovering their midfield general Onopko, and of course without the infamous Stan Collymore in the squad after he did a runner on the club midweek, announcing his 'early retirement' once he had left the country. Paco Flores was missing his full backs, with Toledo suspended pending investigation of his passport, Roger banned for a game and Cristóbal injured, and he changed his team formation to include three central defenders and two wing backs, Morales and the unsettled Arteaga filling those roles. With Martín Posse still not fit and Nishizawa not really impressing in the last two games, Serrano returned up front to join Tamudo.

With a pitch in atrocious conditions Radomir Antic instructed his players to use the direct route to goal, long high balls punted up into the area. At first they found themselves under pressure from the visitors though, with Esteban called upon to save two or three times from the Espanyol forwards. But with twenty minutes gone they took the lead, Geni beating his man down the right and swinging a cross over with the Espanyol defence failed to control, leaving Oli alone in front of goal. Espanyol had a chance to come back from the penalty spot before the break after Onopko fouled Tamudo, but for once in his life Galca put the kick wide. Oviedo's joy only lasted until just after half time though, when an on form Sergio cut through half the defence before beating Esteban. Tomic re-established the lead, but again Espanyol came back to level the scores through Tamudo.

The rest of the game was largely without incident, with both managers changing their forwards without much effect, leaving Espanyol down in twelfth place in the middle of a group of seven teams separated by four points. Oviedo stay down in sixteenth, grateful that three of the four teams below them lost. Antic blamed it all on referee Megía Dávila after the game, saying that he did everything but score for Espanyol. But the manager is running out of excuses, and another couple of bad results may see his demise.