Horkas and Las Palmas Paying the Price as Second-Half Slump Bites Hard
Las Palmas were flying at the halfway point of the Segunda División season, but a shocking run of form has dented their promotion hopes and Horkas's Zamora hopes.
Las Palmas were the surprise package of the Segunda División’s first half — now they’re scrambling to stop a worrying slide that’s threatening to unravel everything they built.
From Co-Leaders to Crisis Mode
It all looked so rosy at the winter break. Las Palmas had hauled themselves level at the top of the table after 21 games, and the foundation of that success was dead simple: they were miserly at the back. Just 13 goals conceded in the first half of the season — an absolute belter of a defensive record, and one that had goalkeeper Dinko Horkas firmly in the conversation for the Zamora Trophy, the award handed to the keeper with the best goals-against ratio in Spanish football.
Fast forward a few weeks, though, and the picture looks considerably less rosy. The Canary Islanders have shipped eight goals in just five games since the second half of the season kicked off. That’s more than half their entire first-half tally gone in the blink of an eye. Brutal.
Horkas Holds His Hands Up
The Croatian stopper fronted up to the press to address the situation, and fair play to him — he didn’t hide behind excuses. He acknowledged there had been matches where he hadn’t been at his best, which is a pretty honest thing to say when you’re fighting for an individual award.
That Zamora lead he’d built up? It’s shrinking fast. The goals are going in, and with them, his advantage at the top of that particular table.
The Dressing Room Isn’t Crumbling — Yet
Here’s the bit that’ll give Las Palmas fans a bit of hope, mind. Despite the dodgy run, Horkas insists the squad is holding together:
- The dressing room remains united, according to the keeper
- There’s no sense of panic or finger-pointing internally
- Saturday’s match is being framed as a proper chance to get back on track
Horkas was clear that “we are more united than ever” — and while that’s the sort of thing every player says during a bad run, the fact they’ve got a game coming up quickly at least means they won’t be stewing on it for long.
What Happens Next?
The worry for Las Palmas is whether this is a blip or something more structural. Going from one of the tightest defences in the division to leaking goals at this rate is a proper alarm bell. The first half of the season suggested they had something special; the second half is testing whether that was real or just a hot streak.
Saturday can’t come soon enough for the yellow half of Gran Canaria.