Oghenekaro Etebo scored his first goal for Getafe but it wasn’t enough to prevent the Azulones from losing ground in their quest for Champions League football after they shared the spoils with Eibar at the Coliseum Alfonso Pérez on Saturday.
A win for 5th-place Getafe would have taken them above 4th-placed Atletico Madrid who host Real Valladolid in the late kickoff.
But the 1-1 draw means Atletico can move level on 52 points with 3rd-placed Sevilla and extend their lead over Getafe to four points with victory at the Wanda Metropolitano later on Saturday night.
With so much at stake for the Azulones, Super Eagles midfielder Etebo couldn’t have chosen a better time to break his duck following his loan move from Stoke in January.
In what was his sixth start and eighth appearance in LaLiga, the 24-year-old Etebo struck in the 30th minute off an assist from Angel Rodriguez to put Pepe Bordalas’ men in front.
Getafe were heading into the break in front but couldn’t hold on to their lead as Eibar striker Charles struck on the stroke of half time to send both teams into the interval on level terms.
Etebo lasted 25 minutes after the restart before he was replaced by Jason and while the home side toiled to find the winner, it was Inaki Bae’s side who came very close to claiming all three points.
Pedro Bigas thought he had grabbed the winner for the visitors but his celebrations were cut short after the goal was ruled out by VAR.
Getafe’s blushes were spared but the dropped points could prove especially damaging in the race for the Champions League with just eight games remaining.
