Match Report: Ponferradina 3-2 Real Madrid Castilla!

Last week brought upon a first in a long time: Castilla lost, but still played well. Fuenlabrada came out 1-0 winners, but they really didn’t impress as much as they have in past seasons - and Castilla could have felt hard done by at the full time whistle. This week brought another challenge in the shape of top of the table Ponferradina. Álex Martín came into the side at centre-back to replace Javier Sánchez, and Jorge De Frutos stepped in for Vinícius Júnior, as they were both called up for the first team for their match against Valladolid on the same day. Besides that the side looked pretty standard.

Unlike the first team game an hour prior, this game was full on action! Within 10 minutes the hosts were in-front, as their striker smashed a shot past Luca Zidane. It was obviously that even the supposed best team in the group so far were not going to bring that much to the table, and Castilla pushed on for an equaliser. It came not long after, when Franchu ran down the line before squaring it into the box for Fidalgo to tap home. Literally one minute later Castilla were ahead, as opposite winger Jorge De Frutos put in some unbelievable work down the right hand side to maintain possession, before wriggling his way into the box and feeding Cristo. Cristo still had a little bit to do, and finished really well into the bottom corner under the goalkeeper. It looked like Castilla were going to comfortably see the half out, but Ponferradina struck late to ensure they had something to fight for at half time.

Castilla didn’t back down, and continued to search for another winner in the second half. The game got a bit more scrappy, and Dani Gómez was brought on to try and aid the attack. Alberto was all thrown into the mixer, and it looked to have paid off when Gómez and Cristo somehow both missed and opportunity that was screaming to go in. Of course, knowing Castilla’s luck, Ponferradina then took the ball up to the other end, and Luca Zidane fouled his man to give away a last minute penalty. Yuri scored it to give the hosts all three points. Another loss, but another promising performance by Castilla!

Castilla continue to look as good as ever, and it seems like therw won’t be any slowing down anytime soon. The standard has been raised, and although I’m still cautious to provide any predictions until the team hits that safety net of 40 points, there are plenty of reasons for optimism. It is more than likely that Santiago Solari will return to his position after the four weeks, but after watching both games back to back yesterday, I really do not want that to happen... This is the best chance yet to wash him off, so it will be incredibly intriguing to see how these final two games go during his care taking roll. In the meantime, Castilla play Burgos next week and will be desperate to get back to winning ways.

Goals: Fidalgo & González.

Assists: Feuillassier & De Frutos.

MOTM: De Frutos.