Thursday’s Copa del Rey second-round tie with Pontevedra had everything Cádiz had hoped to avoid: an injury, extra time and a marathon physical effort. The Submarino Amarillo finally went through on penalties, after netting five out of five in a shoot-out that witnessed the kind of effectiveness in front of goal that the previous 120 minutes had sorely lacked.
Álvaro Cervera’s squad selection had signalled the head coach’s intention to rotate at Pasarón, and his starting line-up confirmed this: Cádiz took to the field with a new-look defence featuring three ‘B’ team players in Saturday Erimuya, Momo Mbaye and Marc Baró, while the classic midfield combination of José Mari and Jon Ander Garrido sat behind a much-changed attack of Iván Alejo, Yann Bodiger, Alberto Perea and Álvaro Giménez.
Both sides looked lively in the opening stages, exchanging dead-ball opportunities but offering little in the way of penetration until, in the 16th minute, Giménez got past Pol Bueso in the box with a neat change of direction – only to see the chance go a begging when he lost his footing. The hosts’ goalkeeper, Álvaro Cortés, was then forced into action in the 21st minute, producing a fine save to keep out Garrido’s header from Baró’s pinpoint corner. A minute later, Pontevedra responded with an angled drive by Álex González that was parried by David Gil and cleared by Carlos Akapo.
The worst news of the night arrived shortly afterwards, when José Mari limped off on his return to first-team action after suffering an injury to his right leg. Filip Malbasic came on for the 33-year-old, with Bodiger dropping into a deeper role in his absence.
The chief opportunities were falling to Cádiz, the clearest of which arrived when Baró fired a shot against the post just after the half-hour mark. After fine individual play, Perea also let fly from just outside the penalty area, but saw his effort held by Cortés. Meanwhile, Pontevedra’s Imanol García enjoyed a shooting chance inside the box that was saved by Gil.
After a half-time break that brought no substitutions, the visitors could have caught the home side out when Malbasic sent a Garrido flick-on off target, but bit by bit the game fell into a spell in which openings became harder to come by. In a bid to inject renewed attacking purpose into the affair, Pontevedra and Cádiz each made a raft of changes, the hosts introducing three new faces in the 54th minute and Cervera seeking to add greater speed and cutting edge when he threw on Jairo Izquierdo and Bobby Adekanye eight minutes later. The Nigerian might have broken the deadlock after advancing into shooting space in the box, but his effort was blocked by the home defence.
As the game entered its final stages, it was balanced precariously on a knife edge. Jorge Pombo and Choco Lozano came on in the final quarter of an hour but were unable to help Cádiz find the breakthrough. A Charles Dias shot saved by Gil and an off-target Garrido drive from just outside the box were the closest either side came to finding a winner, and they were forced to continue slogging it out in extra time.
Tiredness became the prevailing feature of the game in the additional 30 minutes. Early in the first period of extra time, Cádiz might have finally broken the stalemate when a backheeled lay-off by Adekanye found Lozano in space in the area, but the Honduran’s low shot was directed straight at the keeper. Pontevedra also carved out an opening, González flashing a strike just past the post from outside the area.
With 15 minutes to go to avoid penalties, Jens Jonsson replaced Garrido, but as the visitors began to tire, Pontevedra started to lay siege to Gil’s goal, going close to snatching a decisive strike on three occasions. Their clearest opportunity came in the 110th minute, Gil conjuring up a fabulous stop to keep out Imanol’s back-post shot when he seemed certain to score. Goalless it remained; the tie would be decided from the spot.
And the two teams arguably saved their best for the penalties: right up until the home side’s fifth kick, both Pontevedra and Cádiz served up unerring efforts from 12 yards. Having seen Malbasic, Pombo, Lozano and Akapo net their penalties, Adekanye did likewise to pile the pressure on Pontevedra’s Víctor Vázquez, who had to score – but was denied by an excellent save by Gil that sent Cádiz into the last 32. On Friday at 13:00 CET, Cervera’s men will learn the identity of their opponents in the next round.
