Even when free wheeling in the second half CD Tenerife showed plenty of flair and with better finishing should have had thee score board spinning. We really are a spoilt bunch of fans this season, it’s worth the entrance fee just to see the lovely touches from Suso and Ayoze Perez.
It’s true Alaves are in a relegation fight and gave goalie Roberto a quiet afternoon but the defence must take some credit for the way they shackled 19 goal striker Viguera, Moyano was back at his outstanding best on the right and Bruno is majestic these days. Ricardo skied an early effort over the goal and Ayoze was making fools of the centre backs. Aridane was out injured, Juanjo came in and filled the deep striking role brilliantly. Ayoze and Suso shared some neat interplay on the right before setting up Juanjo who stroked the ball into the net after 14 minutes.
In the week Ayoze was reading poetry for a government campaign, today his feet were waxing lyrical, the way he tricked two defenders before laying the ball off to incoming Suso deserved a goal but the flying winger slid in just the wrong side of the post. The second goal was from a very dodgy penalty, the ref conjured up a handball from an aerial clash and Ricardo converted the spot kick. I lost count of how many chances went begging for Ayoze, near the end of the first half he cut in and released his low shot, it bobbled along in front of the goal line, if a worm had popped its head up it would have gone in.
Hot, sweaty, and buzzing are not members of a boy band but the way we all felt at half time, this had the makings of an avalanche. It was a slightly subdued performance in the second 45 but Tenerife still made plenty of chances. Cristo curled a testing ball in from the left but Goitia dealt with it fairly easily. Ayoze shaped up for a shot and hit it straight at the keeper as the midfield controlled the game with Aitor Sanz back pulling the strings. Maybe earlier subs could have breathed fresh life into the game but then again maybe a pin up girl could have brought me a chilled beer, sometimes you can be too demanding. Edgar replaced Cristo after 73 minutes and was soon followed by Ros for Ricardo and Rivero for Juanjo.
Velez had a cheeky penalty shout when he went down in the Tenerife area, more likely shock at getting to see the goal at close quarters. There were no worries of a comeback, Tenerife were in charge and Alaves were saved late on by a defenders clearance off the goal line. Almost at our survival target and in the promotion play off zone the only disappointment of the day was the 11,554 crowd. This special team deserves even more support as we head to the climax of the season.