After gorging on the chocolate shell of the first half CD Tenerife had a touch of indigestion after a weaker second half saw them share the spoils in a 1-1 draw with Real Zaragoza. The visitors looked a good football side but their cynical fouls and a poor referee allowed them to grind out a draw despite ending with 10 men.

Dani Hernandez was barely back from international duty with Venezuela and didn’t look his usual sharp self but there was plenty to admire from Tenerife. They took hold of the game once William Jose had posted a first minute warning with a low shot to tickle Dani’s gloves. After that it was almost one way traffic, Cristo Martin was on good form and Vitolo ensured the midfield had plenty of bite. Suso conjured up a magic pass to Cristo that opened up the Zaragoza defence but his shot wasn’t enough to trouble keeper Alcolea.

Tenerife’s opener was a beauty, Aitor Sanz took a corner and floated the ball over the keepers outstretched hands so it hung in the air at the far post. Maxi is a real predator these days and was well placed to add a delicate header that hardly ruffled his crowning glory. The home defence was in a mean mode, especially Raul Camara who back tracked like a whippet and tackled like a rotweiller. Cristo went close again, this time slipping his shot across the goal before Zaragoza ended the half as they started it, with a shot that inched wide of the target.

Coach Ranko Popovic must have lived up to his porn star name during the break by delivering an X certificate lashing to Zaragoza, they came out mean and nasty. Mario set the tone by upending Maxi and picked up a booking, the ref was already missing several other blatant chops. The visitors pushed forward, Cabrera fired a shot in that Dani Hernandez should have grabbed but he punched instead and the ball came out to Vallejo to score from an offside position. It was a cruel blow but Tenerife had to get on with the job. Juan Carlos replaced Cristo, his first touch was a long range effort that just cleared the bar.

Diego Ifran was having a quiet game and picking up a booking that will sideline him next match didn’t help his frame of mind. Mario continued his wild ways but made one lunge too many when he fouled Juan Carlos and was shown a red card, the resulting free kick was wasted. With the man advantage Tenerife swapped Diego for Aridane to push for a winner, he was soon joined by Abdon Prats with Moyano making way. The changes didn’t bring the breakthrough, Zaragoza held tight and stopped Tenerife players by the crudest means as the ref got worse.

Albizua had a half chance, Abdon Prats was marginally too slow to run through onto a good ball and time was ticking down. A draw was still a good result against the promotion chasers, especially after they fluffed a relatively easy injury time opening. Tenerife were far from happy with the ref and Vitolo let rip at him in the tunnel, his loose lip earning him a red card and a place in the stands with Diego at Alaves next game.