SportsCatch
EN

Luca Zidane seizes his chance at Leganés with four saves against Oviedo

Brought on after the expulsion of starter Raul Fernandez, Luca Zidane made a successful debut with Leganés by recording four decisive saves in the victory over Oviedo in Spanish second division.

1 min read
Luca Zidane seizes his chance at Leganés with four saves against Oviedo
Share

Luca Zidane played his first match in Leganés colours on Sunday, thrust into action after starter goalkeeper Raul Fernandez was sent off during the home fixture against Oviedo in Spanish second division. The son of France’s national team manager delivered a solid performance, rated 7.3 by Sofascore.

The match scenario was far from ideal for a debut. After just twenty minutes, 38-year-old Raul Fernandez was sent off following a VAR review for a reckless foul on striker Chris Ramos. Leganés were leading 1-0 thanks to a goal from former Paris player Ismaïl Gharbi and now had to defend that advantage with ten men against eleven for over an hour.

Luca Zidane was kept busy. Four saves and several reassuring aerial interventions allowed his defence to hold firm until the final whistle. A successful baptism of fire for the 26-year-old goalkeeper, who arrived this summer from Granada, another Spanish second division club, where he was the undisputed starter.

Since arriving in the Spanish capital, the former Real Madrid goalkeeper had been relegated to the bench by manager Rubén Albés, who preferred the experienced Raul Fernandez. The demotion was all the more notable given that Luca Zidane had faced strong criticism during the last World Cup with Algeria.

Raul Fernandez’s suspension offers him another opportunity next Saturday in the home match against Eldense. Two consecutive matches in goal could be enough to shake up the goalkeeper hierarchy at Leganés.

Share
{# Sitewide native fullscreen interstitial — our own bet-CTA card blown up to a takeover (replaces the SDK overlay). The shared card animations + countdown load once, AFTER the interstitial markup, so the countdown script's first tick sees this card's node too (the in-read card, in
above, already exists). One include covers both surfaces. #}