Kevin Sánchez saves Dépor from a slip-up against Penafiel | OneFootball

The academy product takes advantage of Antonio Hidalgo’s rotations and the attacking absences to make his case

Deportivo earned a hard-fought 2-2 draw in their visit to the Estádio 25 de Abril against FC Penafiel in the first friendly scheduled during the international break. In a match ideal for giving minutes to players with less game time in LaLiga and handing opportunities to young academy talents —such as Frank Iglesias from the start or Mauro Valeiro and Leandro Altieri after the restart—, the standout performer was striker Kevin Sánchez. The Deportivo forward once again loudly knocked on the first team’s door, taking advantage of the injury absences of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Zakaria Eddahchouri, leading the reaction from A Coruña every time the Portuguese side went ahead on the scoreboard.

The opening stages of the match were marked by the old rule of the former player coming back to haunt his old side, as after ten minutes Davo latched onto a header in the heart of the box to open the scoring for Penafiel and confirm his fine form in Portugal’s second division. The blue-and-white response was not long in coming, just before the half-hour mark after a recovery high up the pitch by Yeremay Hernández, who set up Kevin Sánchez to place the ball neatly inside the post of Eric Puerto. After the break, and with Dani Barcia returning in defense, the home side struck again through a long-range effort from Juanda that caught Ferllo by surprise, forcing Antonio Hidalgo’s men to come from behind once more.

Deportivo’s ability to respond emerged once again thanks to the intense high press applied by Yeremay in the opposition build-up, allowing Kevin Sánchez to pounce on a loose ball in the box and make it a final 2-2 with his second goal of the afternoon. After the physical toll and the subsequent wave of substitutions in the closing stages, the scoreline did not change again on Portuguese soil. In this way, Dépor comes through a valuable fitness test in which Abegondo’s young prospects and the less regular players picked up competitive rhythm ahead of the busy official schedule awaiting them after the international break, with another demanding test on the horizon against Porto at Abanca-Riazor

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