Tenerife claim first blood in LaLiga 1l2l3 playoff final

Willed on by a packed-out Heliodoro Rodriguez Lopez, CD Tenerife it was who began this playoff final first-leg encounter on the front foot, as the Canary Islanders got a better grip on proceedings in the wake of an opening spell littered with misplaced passes. However, as the minutes ticked by, both teams contrived to cancel each other out, before the home side stepped things up and began to enjoy the lion's share of possession as they started to make some inroads on Vicente Guaita's goal.

With Japanese midfielder Gaku Shibasaki pulling the strings, Tenerife were now clearly in the ascendancy and poured forward at will with the firm belief that it would simply be a matter of time before they struck the all-important opening goal. The islanders looked at their most menacing from set pieces, and indeed it was from a corner that the deadlock was broken. Shibasaki's floated delivery from the right was met by Jorge Saenz, who leapt highest to power home a towering header and put the hosts into the driving seat.

 FT #PlayOffLaLiga123#TenerifeGetafe 1-0

(Jorge Saenz 22) pic.twitter.com/SU9yKsnZGa

— LaLiga (@LaLigaEN) June 21, 2017

Getafe CF sought to hit back, and although the Madrilenians ended the opening 45 minutes on top, they subsequently failed to stamp their authority on a second period in which Los Blanquiazules looked to double their advantage on the break through the pace of Amath and Choco Lozano. One of the key moments of the night came when Getafe's Francisco Portillo was shown a yellow card, a booking which crucially rules him out of the return leg. No further goals materialised, and although this result puts Pep Marti's charges into pole position, everything is still very much to play for in Saturday's second-leg showdown at the Coliseum Alfonso Perez.