Gimnàstic de Tarragona 1-2 UE Sant Andreu: a bitter Santa Tecla | OneFootball

The Tarragona side were beaten by UESA at the death while pushing for a comeback

What a cracking clash. Nàstic de Tarragona hosted Sant Andreu at the Nou Estadi for a thrilling Catalan derby. A great atmosphere was expected thanks to the fans of both teams. Xisco’s men were looking to bounce back from their tough defeat in Alcorcón, while UESA were aiming for their second win of the season. We got to see two very different halves, with the second one carrying all the excitement. In the end, UESA took all three golden points in the final minutes.

Neither Nàstic de Tarragona nor Sant Andreu were able to control possession. There was a lot of chaos, plenty of disorder from both teams, and lots of loose balls. They couldn’t find a way to really hurt each other. The opening minutes lacked any clear idea.

After the first quarter of an hour, Xisco Campos’ team started to take a step forward, pushing UESA back deep into their own half. The visitors sat in a low block and looked to win the ball back to launch counters. The red side kept pressing more and more, but without really making the visiting team tremble.

It was truly a barren affair. Very flat. Long balls everywhere and hardly anything at stake in terms of actual play. It was scrappy, that much was clear. Around the 22nd minute, Serrano was the one to test one of the goalkeepers, in this case Ayesa. But it was a very central effort that the keeper dealt with comfortably.

Both Nàstic and Sant Andreu rushed things whenever they had the ball, always looking for the quickest route toward the opposition box, only for it to come to nothing. All of this meant that neither side kept possession for long.

Even so, the Tarragona team moved up another gear. The home side slowed the game down with long spells of possession, controlling things and setting the tempo they wanted. Still, Iñaki had yet to make a save from a shot on target, as he had not really been tested.

When the clock hit the 37th minute, the red side came close to breaking the deadlock with their first real chance of danger. Borja got a shot away inside the box after a corner, but Iñaki got to it and it stayed just short of going in. Moments later, Lucas Viña replied with a low shot from inside the area that went wide of Ayesa’s goal.

Halftime was approaching, and both teams tried to push until the end in an attempt to go ahead before the break. After a few uneventful minutes, much like almost the entire first half, the referee sent the teams into the dressing rooms. It was a fairly poor first half, with no key chances.

Sant Andreu came out sharper in the second half. The break did them good. They were threatening around Ayesa’s box. Around the 51st minute, the referee pointed to the penalty spot after a handball by Bakis. He went to review it at Nàstic’s request, but stuck with his decision. Álex Bermejo sent the keeper the wrong way and made no mistake, putting it into the right side. UESA had broken the deadlock.

Nàstic were not going to sit back and do nothing. Xisco Campos’ men threw themselves into attack, backed by their fans, who began to turn up the pressure to lift and help the team. For their part, Natxo González’s side did not sit back at all, continuing in the same vein as at the start of the second half.

The Tarragona team were not being clinical, barely testing Iñaki. The ball was largely theirs, but without much sense of danger. However, around the 71st minute, they found the equaliser. Carlos Segura came up with a thunderbolt to level things again. A right-footed strike from outside the area. Unstoppable for the UESA keeper.

After the goal, Nàstic were completely fired up. The fans were piling on the pressure and the team could feel it. They began to pin Sant Andreu back in their own half, while the visitors tried to play their way out of the pressure from Xisco Campos’ team as best they could. That strong spell from the red side passed, but they still looked the team closest to winning it.

Heading into the final stretch of the match, the Tarragona side threw everything forward in search of the winning goal and the comeback. In the 88th minute, Eugeni had the comeback at his feet. Iñaki produced a great save to deny the midfielder.

When nobody expected it, Sant Andreu went ahead right at the death. A counterattack following a major mistake by a Nàstic side fully committed in the opposition half. Alexis García, racing through on his own, made no mistake. After that, the red side desperately tried to find an equaliser, but without success. Natxo González’s men took all three points home.

Match sheet

Gimnàstic de Tarragona (4-4-2): Gaiza Ayesa; Subirás, Joseda, Athuman, Manel Royo; Borja Sánchez (Carlos Segura, 68'), Montalvo, Meshak (Katsushima, 89'), Álex Almansa; Joan Prohens (Pere Marco, 85') and Sinan Bakis (Diego Gómez, 68')

UE Sant Andreu (4-5-1): Iñaki; Jordi Méndez, Montoro, Andreu, Lucas Viña; Serrano (Albertito, 85'), Oscar Carrasco, Daniel Torices, Delgado (Carlos Blanco, 90'+9), Àlex Bermejo (Tovar, 71'); and Armero (Alexis García, 71')

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.