3-2. Ibiza beats Peña in a vibrant derby
Derbies are not usually considered friendly matches. Given the intensity, alternations and flashes of quality produced in the Ibiza-Peña Deportiva match played at Can Misses, it definitely followed those norms. The home side presented its new home kit in front of its home crowd and doing so seemingly gave Pablo Alfaro's team a surge in enthusiasm in the opening stages of a match which saw the sky blue squad reunite with its fans. Present in the VIP box were Marco Borriello and Adriano Galliani, the most famous Italian supporters of the Ibizan club.
16 minutes into the match, Ibiza was already up 2-0. Rubén González had scored both goals, with the Basque player netting the first with a tap in and the second with a header. To put his side one goal up, Rubén scored at the far post after a corner which prior was headed ever so slightly by Gonzalo. To double the lead, the central defender rose the highest in the box to head the ball into the back of the net after a perfect delivery from Javi Lara. The Cordoba born player's right foot continued to cause problems for Peña for the remainder of the first half and it was Javi Pérez who also had two great chances on the back of superb passes from Lara.
By means of expertly taken free kicks and corners, Lara kept putting the side from Santa Eulalia under pressure and the visitors nearly ended up with ten men when Torres desperately tried to stop what looked to be a very dangerous Ibiza attack. It was Sergio Cirio who led that attack when the Peña goalkeeper brought him down outside of the penalty area. Alberto Morena, the referee for this preseason derby, subsequently showed a yellow card to the keeper.
In the second half, Ibiza's island neighbours upped the ante. Just like Ibiza had done in the first half, Raúl Casañ's team needed 5 minutes to turn things around. Fraile was the goalscorer of both goals. First, he pounced upon a lacklustre Ibiza clearance and then beat Germán. Shortly after, he was on the receiving end of a pass by Lucas that cut through the Ibiza midfield and left the striker with just the Ibiza goalkeeper in front of him. Germán rushed out of the goalmouth to try and rescue the situation, but Fraile levelled the scores with a clinical finish.
Peña had the momentum on its side and looked to grab a third, leading Pablo Alfaro to make six substitutions before the match was interrupted for several minutes. A very rough challenge from Cristian Cruz –earning himself a straight red card– had brought down Fran Carbia who had to be stretchered off by the medical team.
The final minutes of the encounter saw Marc de Val dealt some bad luck as he conceded an own goal in the 86th minute, handing Ibiza a victory in its penultimate preparation match. The preseason comes to an end tomorrow at the Municipal de Sant Francesc stadium by taking on Formentera as part of theTrasmapi Cup with the kick off set for 7pm. A day and a half of recovery will follow that encounter before Ibiza begins its final week of preparation ahead of the opening league match of the new season in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria on August 25.
