Getafe loss edges Sporting nearer drop
Miku and Diego Castro struck for Getafe as Sporting Gijón’s hopes of top-flight safety were dented with a 2-0 defeat at the Coliseum Alfonso Pérez.
Bottom club Sporting went into the game seven points adrift of Villarreal in 17th place and they were behind after just 20 minutes, Venezuelan striker Miku heading home from Jaime Gavilán’s free-kick. Pedro Rios and Diego Castro had further efforts for the home side before the Asturians carved out their first real chance of the game 10 minutes before the break, Alberto Lora seeing his header flash narrowly wide.
However, Getafe doubled their advantage just two minutes after the interval when Diego Castro volleyed home from inside the box with Gavilán once again the provider. Defender Iván Hernández then headed wide from a corner for the visitors as Javier Clemente’s men tried to get back into the game, but a David Barral shot from the edge of the box was as close as they came for the remainder of the 90 minutes.
The win leaves Getafe on 42 points and eyeing an outside chance of a European spot, while things are looking bleak for Sporting with only seven games of the season left including a visit to Real Madrid next week.
Sporting’s former Spanish national team boss Clemente practically admitted afterwards his team was bound for La Segunda, while lamenting the fact he has a squad that is not strong enough to compete in the top division.
“The players did not disappoint me because they gave everything they had,” explained Clemente. “I have never regretted coming to Sporting because there are good people here who are hurting and suffering. But this is a great club that has done badly in putting a team together for La Primera.
“If you want to compete in Formula One then you have to have a Formula One car, otherwise you will come last in every race. With our budget we should have a much stronger team,” he added.
Getafe Coach Luis García was naturally delighted his team had got the points that in theory should be enough to ensure a ninth successive season among the elite, particularly after getting off to a bad start to the campaign.
“We are happy to have reached 42 points with seven games to go," he beamed. “But what nobody remembers is that after 10 games we were bottom and when we lost in Gijón we were behind Sporting. So we should feel happy.
“I congratulate my players on overcoming our bad start but now we must look to finish as high as possible,” he continued. “We can’t compete with teams such as Sevilla and Atlético Madrid, as with our budget that is impossible, but we are proud to be level on points with them.”
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