CD Tenerife came out on top after a memorable night at the Heliodoro. The team and fans came together to defeat the UD Las Palmas team thanks to a goal from José León in the first half. Not even the referee could destroy the match that took place in a practically full Heliodoro, with a couple of ‘questionable’ calls, meaning Tenerife will enter Saturday’s 2nd leg with a slight advantage, but not a decisive one.
The first 20 minutes of the game played out as expected. The yellows wanted to take control of the match, with an omnipresent and highly mobile Viera supported by Jesé, and Tenerife didn’t enjoy long possession of the ball and tried to steal and counter attack quickly to surprise UD.
The main problem posed by Las Palmas was the excessive freedom of movement with which Viera moved, the most differential player in the league. The CDT defence gave him a real headache every time he appeared on the scene.
In the 26th minute, Las Palmas had the first clear chance to score from a corner kick. Viera recovered it after a deep pass from Lemos and tried his luck, but the attacker from Gran Canaria found himself with a miraculous Moore after Soriano was already beaten.
But the local response was immediate. An Enric Gallego volley crashed the ball into the crossbar of Valles' goal just 3 minutes later after a great cross from Moore, which shook the entire yellow sector of the visiting fans.
That action ignited the Tenerife spark and Ramis' men reacted and began to put pressure on Las Palmas changing the game, as it was UD who were now the ones backing down.
Tenerife took advantage of this in the best possible way in the 36th minute. After a good build-up play, that saw the Gran Canaria team frustrated, José León opened the scoring with a shot that took a deflection off a yellow defender before hitting the back of the net.
The Heliodoro exploded and Tenerife fans rocked its foundations as they burst with joy.
It was almost 2-0 to Tenerife just moments later after a good header which was saved by the Las Palmas goalkeeper. However, they had a much clearer chance soon after as CDT drove towards goal and Enric Gallego only had Valles to beat, but the yellows keeper stayed big and kept the score at 1-0.
It should have been 1-1 at halftime and how the ball didn’t go in as León cleared a Mujica header from the goal line, is anyone’s guess, but CDT stayed in front at the break.
Tenerife started the second half somewhat cold, while Las Palmas wanted the ball to try to level the match. But the Blue and Whites soon woke up again and Mario González frightened the visiting defence after finding himself in space, but the biggest controversy came when Gallego was caught inside the yellow area, but the referee didn’t give a clear penalty.
By the 70th minute, both teams had made changes, Las Palmas to attack and CDT to block the midfield, and the referee made another clear mistake by not sending off the UD goalkeeper for a clear headbutt that was unpunished by the referee.
In the final stretch it was time to keep the advantage and put everyone behind the ball, since a 1-0 win is worth it. Tenerife held strong and the countdown to the final whistle seemed like an eternity, but Las Palmas was unable to do anything against the concrete wall posed by a Tenerife team that will enter the Gran Canaria Stadium with an advantage and just one step away from the play-off final.
CD Tenerife: Soriano; Moore, Carlos Ruiz, Jose Leon, Mellot; Mollejo (Pomares, m.89), Alexander (Sergio González, 65), Aitor Sanz, Bermejo (Elady, m.70); Mario González (Andrés, 65) and Enric Gallego.
UD Las Palmas: Álvaro Valles; Lemos, Eric Curbelo, Raul Navas, Cardona; Kiriam, Mfulu, Jonathan Viera, Moleiro (Pejiño, 78); Mújica (Maikel, 62) and Jese (Rober, 62).
Goal: 1-0, min 36: José León.
