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Santi Cazorla led Real Oviedo to a 3-1 win in the La Liga 2 play-off final, securing their return to the Spanish top flight after 24 years.
Santi Cazorla with his boyhood club Real Oviedo (X)
Former Arsenal midfielder Santi Cazorla kick-started a dramatic comeback as Real Oviedo won the La Liga 2 play-off final to return to the Spanish top flight after a 24-year absence.
Oviedo triumphed 3-1 at home, overturning a first-leg deficit with goals from Santi Cazorla, Ilyas Chaira, and Francisco Portillo. A packed Estadio Carlos Tartiere erupted as fans stormed the pitch at the final whistle.
The club from the Principality of Asturias, in the northwest of Spain, will now join Levante and Elche in next season’s top tier, replacing relegated Leganes, Las Palmas, and Valladolid.
“There’s no way to describe what this means to us. These players are heroes, every single one of them. They deserve great recognition,” Oviedo coach Veljko Paunovic told LaLiga TV.
Fairytale For Cazorla
40-year-old Cazorla – who returned to his boyhood club in 2023 – converted a penalty late in the first half of Saturday’s second leg with his side 2-0 down on aggregate to CD Mirandes.
Oviedo levelled the tie in the second half through Ilyas Chaira before Francisco Portillo scored a stunning winner in extra time to secure promotion.
Cazorla claimed the decisive goal in the play-off semi-final tie against Almeria, coming off the bench to convert a free-kick and secure a 3-2 aggregate victory.
Cazorla was a product of Oviedo’s academy, but was forced to leave the club in 2003 when financial issues decimated the club’s youth system and saw the first team re-enter the third tier.
When Oviedo faced another crisis a decade later, Cazorla was one of thousands of fans and former players who purchased shares in the club to keep it alive.
(with agency inputs)
After training in the field of broadcast media, Siddarth, as a sub-editor for News18 Sports, currently dabbles in putting together stories, from across a plethora of sports, onto a digital canvas. His long-term…Read More
After training in the field of broadcast media, Siddarth, as a sub-editor for News18 Sports, currently dabbles in putting together stories, from across a plethora of sports, onto a digital canvas. His long-term… Read More
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