Getafe had lost five games in a row, but manager Luis Garcia Plaza secured a point in an entertaining 2-2 draw against Real Sociedad in the first La Liga game of the day.
It looked as if Getafe were heading for yet another defeat as they went two goals down inside the first twenty minutes. Sociedad’s Spanish striker Imano Agirretxe took full advantage of a Getafe defence that was low in confidence, scoring in just the fourth minute and then adding a second on 16 minutes. At this point it seemed as if the floodgates would open but Getafe shook off their lethargy and began to dig deep.
Ciprian Marica hit back on 28 minutes, against the run of play, to give the hosts renewed hope going into the interval. Only a goal down at the break, when it could have been much worse, the half time team talk from Plaza galvanised his team and they looked much better after the break.
The equaliser came on 52 minutes and was scored by Getafe’s top scorer Pedro Leon, moments after the ball had rebounded off of the Sociedad woodwork. The ball was laid back to Leon who struck a fantastic volley from the edge of the box that whistled inside of the near post.
The result gives some respite to Getafe, who were in danger of continuing a slide towards the bottom reaches of La Liga. For Real Sociedad it is a useful away point but a result that could, and probably should, have been so much better for Jagoba Arrasate’s team.
