SD Huesca faced a daunting challenge in their visit to Granada. The powerful Andalusian side didn’t seem the best rival to find an away victory, but Huesca’s boss had already warned that the Oscenses would compete on the pitch. And he didn’t lie. The statistics backed him up and his men enjoyed as much possession and as many occasions as the opposition, but were unable to find the net.
‘Cuco’ Ziganda’s starting XI included debutant Rubén Pulido, Jorge Pulido and the Romania international Ratiu in defence. Gerard Valentín started for the first time as well, displaying a brilliant performance. Kevin Carlos registered the visitors’ first effort when he managed to power a shot, but it went wide. After 25 minutes, it was Kevin Carlos’s back which skied the ball out of goal following an excellent individual play from Gerard Valentín, who had swung in a cross at the by-line, as Huesca’s search for the opener continued. It was a magnificent 30 minutes of the Azulgranas, who succeeded in playing in the opposition’s half for most of the time. An outstretched Andrés pulled out a huge save after a free-kick as Granada tried to go forwards, looking for the ball that would open up the Altoaragoneses.
Just like in the first 45, the Azulgranas – set to wear our green third kit – took the route one approach with a shot by Timor following a corner and another effort from Marc Mateu. A free-kick over the crossbar led to Granada’s best minutes. ‘Cuco’ made a triple substitution, bringing on Kento, Kanté and Soko. After that, Vilarrasa came on in place of Florian, as the defence had to dig deep to repel a wave of Granada attacks. With the game being played at a less ferocious pace, Andrés was called into action to gather a Granada drive and Kanté smashed a shot into the crossbar. Later, Vilarrasa tried to combine with Juan Carlos, when he found himself unmarked, but it ended all square between ‘Cuco’ Ziganda’s Azulgranas and Aitor Karanka’s Granada, the latter ending one man short.
