Armeros juggernaut blows Granada away
Eibar trounced the Andalusians 4-0 on a memorable night at Ipurua
Ipurua tonight played host to a masterclass in fine football and goals as Eibar put four past Granada to claim three points, which brings the Armeros' tally to 35 and leaves them in seventh place in the standings.
Right from the first whistle, the hosts came out looking for victory and it wasn't long before they reaped their rewards. With 11 minutes on the clock, Adrián stroked home a right-footed penalty into the left corner after Sverrir Ingi Ingason had pulled Sergi Enrich back.
Adrián had a golden opportunity to have claimed his second of the night when he met Ander Capa's inviting right-wing cross in the 18th minute, however his effort from point-blank range came crashing back off the crossbar.
José Luis Mendilibar's men were utterly dominating proceedings and sought to put the game to rest against a Granada side who simply had no answer.
Eibar bossed things in the middle third and were wreaking havoc down the flanks, as the Armeros laid siege to the visitors' goal, carving out chance after chance.
The home side duly doubled their lead on 38' when Pedro León dinked a delicious pass over the top to Sergi Enrich, who pulled away from the defence and drove into the area, before skipping past Guillermo Ochoa and with virtually nothing to aim at, he produced an angled finish to send the ball past the defender on the line.
Far from sitting back on their lead, the Armeros maintained their ambition and continued to pour forward with real determination.
It didn't take long for Eibar to put the game to bed. On 52' a Pedro León corner from the right was swept home by Iván Ramis, who sent the ball beyond Ochoa's despairing dive.
The opening 20 minutes of the second period saw Eibar serve up an exhibition of free-flowing football, in which Mendilibar's charges produced some tremendous play full of with attacking verve, much to the delight of the Ipurua faithful.
On 62', Anaitz Arbilla refused to give up on a ball which looked destined to run behind and his cross from the left fell to the feet of Pedro León, who was unmarked to slam the ball home.
Two minutes later, Granada squandered a gilt-edged chance to have reduced the arrears. Aly Mallé looked certain to tap home on the goalline but Ramis slid in, before Yoel gathered the ball. In his efforts to prevent the visitors from scoring, Ramis injured himself and had to be replaced by Mauro Dos Santos shortly afterwards.
Dani García also suffered an injury, picking up a suspected broken metacarpal in his right hand, although the final diagnosis is yet to be confirmed.
In the wake of this incident, the tempo of the game dropped, and as the clocked ticked down, the encounter lost some of its intensity and the goalscoring opportunities dried up. At the final whistle, those inside Ipurua gave their team a rousing ovation, with the Armeros now on the brink of securing survival.