Loss to Albacete (1-3)

C.D. Leganés was unable to earn any points in its LALIGA HYPERMOTION Matchday 13 game against Albacete Balompié (1-3). Morata scored Leganés’ goal, while Pacheco, Álex Rubio, and Higinio scored for the visitors.

Luis Carrión made five changes to Leganés’ starting lineup compared to last Monday’s loss in Valladolid: in goal, Luca returned to the lineup in place of Raúl Fernández; in defense, Marvel replaced the suspended Pulido; in midfield, Atienza (returning from injury) and Zico came in for Diawara and Kechta, who was also suspended; and up front, Morata returned to the starting lineup after his two-goal performance at Zorrilla, replacing Dani Rodríguez and forming a two-man strike force with Álex Millán.

With a tribute to the late Jesús de Miguel, the mother of our women’s team player Cristina Chao, and all the victims of the Urda train accident—including three residents of our city—the match began with an early set-piece chance for Albacete that Lorenzo sent over the bar. Lega sought to dominate possession, but the visitors also posed a threat with quick breaks into open space.

Pacheco put Albacete ahead, and Álex Rubio scored the second after a goal by Millán was disallowed following a VAR review

In the 19th minute, Albacete took the lead through Pacheco, who fired a left-footed shot across the goal that Luca could do nothing about. It was 0-1 for the visitors. Leganés tried to respond, with a nice exchange between Morata and Gharbi in the 27th minute that the French-Tunisian player finished weakly against Mariño. Millán had a chance in the 36th minute, but he couldn’t deliver a good cross from the right into the Manchego goal area.

In the 40th minute, Álex Millán scored the equalizer after turning in the box and crossing the ball past Mariño, but referee Juan Manuel Gordillo, after being alerted by Trujillo Suárez via VAR, disallowed the goal due to an alleged prior foul by Morata on Vallejo. After another baffling decision in which VAR disallowed a corner kick in Leganés’ favor and ruled the ball out of play, Álex Rubio made it 0-2 for Albacete in stoppage time following yet another lengthy VAR review—this time, no foul was found. The first half ended with a 3-on-1 counterattack by Leganés led by Morata that was cut off by the referee.

Higinio scored the third goal on a penalty kick, and Morata narrowed the gap

The second half began with a triple substitution for Leganés: Tejero, Soko, and Unax replaced Rubén Peña, Zico, and Millán in an effort to turn the game around. Gharbi took his place in the double pivot alongside Atienza, with Sancris moving to the left and Soko to the right, and Unax playing behind Morata. Soko had a chance in the 50th minute with a header off a cross from Franquesa that sailed over the bar. In the 57th minute, the referee awarded a penalty to Albacete, which Higinio converted to make it 0–3.

Mariño prevented Soko from scoring in the 62nd minute with a fine save on the Cameroonian’s header, and in the 67th minute, the Pepineros scored, courtesy of Morata, who headed in a fine cross from Sancris on the left. It was the third consecutive goal by “No. 21.” Andrés Campos came on for Gharbi in Luis Carrión’s fourth substitution, and in the 81st minute, Sule replaced Franquesa. In the 83rd minute, the referee called a penalty after Mariño brought down Morata, but the goalkeeper guessed Morata’s shot correctly and deflected the penalty kick.

VAR capped off the afternoon with another review that led to Montero’s ejection

In stoppage time, following another thorough review and after rewinding the play to two minutes earlier, VAR alerted the head referee once again to rule a Leganés attack as a foul in favor of Albacete, resulting in Montero’s ejection—even though the Leganés center back was not the last man and had touched the ball. Even so, he was shown a red card.

Leganés suffered a defeat and remains on twelve points in the standings; they will face their next match this Tuesday (8:00 p.m.) against Trival Valderas at Ontime Butarque in the first round of the Copa del Rey.