Oviedo 3 - Numancia 0

Oviedo: Esteban; Keita, Danjou, Gaspar, Ivo; Paunovic, Onopko, Tomic (Martinovic 87'), Iván Ania (Rubén Reyes 67'); Geni (Jaime 77'), Oli. 4-4-2.
Numancia: Alvaro Nuñez; Iñaki, Soria (Manel 57'), Antía, Octavio; Marini; Nagore, Pacheta (Iván Pérez 46'), José Manuel; Caco Morán (Ojeda 73'); Rubén Navarro. 4-1-4-1.

Team changes: Oviedo: Gaspar, Ivo, Paunovic, Geni for Martinovic, Boris, Amieva, Rubén / Numancia: No change.

Goals:
1-0. 37. Geni. From inside of area after Oli slid ball to him.
2-0. 52. Iván Ania. After Octavio miskick landed at his feet near goal.
3-0. 80. Oli. Controlled long ball and rounded keeper to score.

Oviedo finally rediscovered their home form after four matches without a win, ending Numancia's brief revival with a three goal victory. The match was played in appalling conditions, with a waterlogged pitch making constructive play virtually impossible, and moves were frequently broken up by the ball stopping dead in the middle of one of the many puddles. The weather was so bad that new signing Stan Collymore was unable to get to Oviedo, and if 'Stan the Man' thought that he was coming to a warm Mediterranean climate he has chosen the wrong part of Spain to relaunch his shattered career. Collymore has been signed to replace Losada, out for the rest of the season with a broken leg, and Radomir Antic decided to try out B team top scorer Geni alongside Oli up front after Rubén's unconvincing performances in recent games. With Amieva injured, Paunovic came in for his first start, as did Gaspar, replacing Martinovic in the back four.

The new front pairing started well, with Oli in particular in excellent form. After going close on three occasions, the home grown striker took advantage of a miskick by the defence to slide the ball through to Geni, the youngster coolly driving it home past the Numancia keeper Nuñez. The only danger from the visitors came from Pacheta, who shot over the bar on the half hour mark and then saw Esteban make a good save from another strike later on. However he left the field at half time to make room for their new signing Iván Pérez as García Remón brought his players forward looking for the equaliser. It was a risky ploy, with Paunovic almost taking advantage twice to force good saves out of Nuñez, and a few minutes later Iván Ania made it two after an Octavio miskick landed at his feet in front of goal.

García Remón brought on Manel for Soria and then Ojeda for Morán, with Antic replying by taking off Geni to put on an extra defensive midfielder Jaime. Iñaki hit the bar as the visitors attacked, but with ten minutes to go Oli got the goal he deserved, expertly controlling a long speculative ball by Ivo to take it round Nuñez and score into an empty net. With four minutes to go referee Puentes Leira sent off Oviedo's Keita for a dangerous sliding tackle on Manel, and Antic put on Martinovic to see out the last few minutes. It was an important win for Oviedo, who join a group of four teams in the middle of the table on 27 points. Numancia stay in seventeenth place after two of the three teams below them also lost, but with a four point gap now to the team above them, they are deeply ensconced in the battle for relegation. Last year they just survived. Can they do it again?