Cadiz earned a point against Real Madrid on Sunday evening, drawing 1-1 with the LaLiga Santander winners, but the Andalusian side will feel frustrated as they were the better team and now drop into the bottom three following the Matchday 37 results.
Real Mallorca‘s victory, coupled with this draw, means Cadiz are level on points with the islanders and in the relegation zone as a result of the head-to-head tiebreaker, but it could have been very different had Andriy Lunin not saved an Alvaro Negredo penalty, following first half goals from Mariano and Ruben Sobrino.
Mariano‘s goal came after just five minutes as Real Madrid and, in particular, Rodrygo started off brightly, as the Brazilian dashed past yellow shirt after yellow shirt before teeing up the backup striker.
But, Cadiz‘s response was excellent and they had this heavily rotated Real Madrid line-up on the ropes.
Nacho had to make a vital intervention and Lunin made the first of his many great saves against Oussama Idrissi, but Cadiz eventually got the equaliser they deserved before half time as Sobrino smashed a rocket in off the crossbar.
Cadiz could even have led at the break as they finished the opening stanza brilliantly and they picked up where they left off after passing through the dressing rooms.
Then, on the hour mark, Lunin fouled Negredo inside the penalty area to force Antonio Mateu Lahoz to point to the spot, but the Ukrainian goalkeeper made amends by saving from the Spanish striker.
Lunin denied Negredo again moments later, capping off an excellent individual performance.
In the final moments, Cadiz threw bodies forward and thought they had a 96th minute penalty for a Dani Carvajal foul on Fali, but, just as it seemed Mateu Lahoz was being told something by the VAR room, the referee blew for full time and it finished as a draw.
It’s an extra point for Cadiz, but not enough to keep them out of the bottom three heading into the final matchday.
Marca
