Oviedo's goal drought ends but Betis spoil the party at Tartiere
Ilyas Chaira finally ends Oviedo's 107-day home scoring drought, but Real Betis equaliser leaves the hosts rooted to the bottom of La Liga at the halfway point.
Real Oviedo’s long-awaited return to scoring ways at the Carlos Tartiere wasn’t enough to secure their first home win since August, as Betis crashed the party with a late equaliser.
Home scoring drought finally ends
The Carbayones faithful have had precious little to cheer about this season, but they finally saw their team find the net through Ilyas Chaira, ending a barren run that stretched an eye-watering 107 days and 597 minutes of football. Talk about a goal drought that would make the Sahara look like Hampstead Heath after a downpour!
Yet what should have been a celebratory moment quickly turned sour when Betis struck back, leaving Oviedo still searching for their first home victory since they stunned Real Sociedad back in August.
Rock bottom at the halfway mark
The situation for Oviedo makes for proper grim reading as they reach the season’s halfway point:
- Bottom of the table with just two wins from 19 matches
- A measly nine goals scored all season
- Five points adrift of safety (pending other results)
- Already on their third manager of the campaign
You’d need more than rose-tinted spectacles to find much positivity in those numbers. The Asturian side’s return to the top flight after a 23-year absence is turning into a bit of a nightmare.
Looking ahead
Oviedo will kick off the second half of their season with a trip to Pamplona next Saturday to face Osasuna. They’ll have to manage without David Carmo, who picked up his fifth yellow card of the season, earning him a suspension.
There is some good news on the horizon though - Fede Vilas will return after serving his ban, while former Osasuna man Nacho Vidal is hoping to be fit to face his old employers.
With each passing week, the task of survival becomes more challenging for Oviedo. They’ll need to start turning these improved performances into points sharpish, or it’ll be straight back down to the second tier.