Oviedo claims dramatic win to seal LaLiga return
Oviedo will return to the top tier of Spanish club football next season after claiming the final place in LaLiga with a dramatic 3-1 win over Mirandes in the second leg of their promotion play-off final, claiming a 3-2 aggregate win.
The second leg tie started well for Mirandes when Joaquin Panichelli headed it in front on 16 minutes to go 2-0 up on aggregate after winning the opening leg 1-0 last week.
But Oveido veteran Santi Cazorla restored parity on the night and put his side within a goal of levelling the tie from the penalty spot just before half-time.
Seven minute after the break, Ilyas Chaira scored to make it 2-2 on aggregate, and with neither side able to break the deadlock the match moved to extra-time, with Oviedo knowing if it could hold on to that scoreline for the additional 30 minutes, it would be enough to seal promotion as a result of it finishing higher on the league table in the regular season.
However, the hosts chose not to sit back and cling on, and instead went in search of an outright winner, and in the 103rd minute it came courtesy of a spectacular strike on the turn from Francisco Portillo inside the box.
An all-in fracas late in the game saw red cards issued to both sides – Dabid Costas for Oviedo as Mirandes finished with nine men with Segio Postigo and and Unai Egiluz both dismissed for their part in the ugly scenes - but the game was effectively over by that point anyway with just a minute left to play.
Stoppage-time saw both team go through the motions largely until pandemonium ensued on the final whistle and the home fans flooded to pitch to celebrate with the team as it sealed its return to LaLiga for the first time in more than two decades.
