Former Leeds United star Pablo Hernandez’s dramatic start to life as a head coach took another twist this weekend as Castellon were involved in a wild encounter against Malaga.
Pablo Hernandez has overseen a turbulent period as manager of CD Castellon after being parachuted into the role of interim head coach.
After a disappointing start to the season, Hernandez enjoyed a dream start to life as a manager, guiding Castellon to three consecutive wins from his first three games in charge.
However, after a draw against Eibar ended Hernandez’s perfect start, three consecutive defeats saw his honeymoon period come to a shuddering halt.
The Marcelo Bielsa disciple got his side back to winning ways with a 2-1 win over Malaga yesterday. However, that win came in the most dramatic fashion as Castellon scored two goals after the 90th minute to complete a famous comeback win.
Pablo Hernandez salutes the crowd during Leeds United v West Bromwich Albion - Premier League
Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images
Hernandez previously criticised the referee following his side’s controversial defeat against Albacete, and he was forced to handle more controversy in the win over Malaga.
Diario AS described Castellon’s win as an “epic victory” as they scored two late goals to salvage a victory. Having played out a goalless first half, Malaga took the lead in controversial circumstances from the penalty spot.
An alleged handball in the box took five minutes for VAR to review, before the referee awarded the penalty to Malaga, which they scored to go 1-0 up.
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AS reports that this spurred Hernandez into action, stating: “Málaga’s goal prompted Pablo Hernández to make a triple substitution in an attempt to turn the game around. Suero, Sienra, and Mamah came on, and the home side switched to a slightly more attacking formation.”
Despite the change, Castellon still struggled to break down their opponents until the game entered the dying moments. First, Ousmane Camara volleyed home to equalise before Marc-Olivier Doue scored in the 99th minute to secure the victory.
Doue was sent off after receiving a second yellow card for his celebrations, but, as Marca reports, no one in the Black and White of Castellon was too concerned, as they said: “it mattered little to him, his team, or the Castellon fans, who celebrated the victory with all their might.”
Hernandez joined those celebrations, running down the touchline to join in with the players, before cutting his celebration short, as he ended a worrying losing streak in the most dramatic way possible.
Pablo Hernandez holding the Championship trophy with Leeds United
Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images
Leeds United icon Pablo Hernandez revels in famous victory
Speaking in his post-match press conference following Castellon’s famous win, Hernandez explained how he felt when the winner went in.
According to the former Leeds favourite, he had initially set off to celebrate the goal before turning back to watch the goal on the monitor to ensure there was no chance of it being ruled out by VAR.
Hernandez said: “The truth is that nowadays, with the issue of the VAR, I have wanted to run away with the others, but halfway through I stopped, and I went to the bench to watch TV to make sure that there was nothing out of play or anything strange.
“I found the TV on the floor after everyone ran out. In the end, obviously, I celebrated it with a lot of enthusiasm. A lot of times, what we talked about before, a lot of times these victories that at the football level maybe you didn’t deserve to win, or because you haven’t been at the level you were another day.
“But winning a game like that, I think it’s going to be good for us too, to get a lot of tension out of what we had inside, and especially for the fans, to be able to celebrate something like that, I think it’s going to be a great time.”