Kenneth Omeruo has insisted that gaining promotion from the La Liga SmartBank into the La Liga Santander is a must for Leganes and also apologized to his team-mates over his red card.
Omeruo was sent off as Leganes played out a 1-1 home draw with Ponferradina in the Spanish La Liga SmartBank encounter which took place at the Estadio de Butarque on Monday evening.
With Leganes 1-0 up against Ponferradina, the Nigerian defender was given his marching orders by referee Saul Ais Reig in the 73rd minute for a second bookable offence.
Omeruo picked up his first yellow card of the tie in the 47th minute but before then, Leganes scored through Sergio Gonzalez from a goalmouth scramble in the 32nd minute.
His team, however, paid dearly for his dismissal as the visitors equalised on 75 minutes courtesy of Oscar Sielva as the Cucumber Growers’ La Liga bid suffered a setback.
He has, however, now taken to the social media to show remorse for his sending off while insisting that his club-side will not lose focus as it is compulsory that they get promoted.
“The result of last Monday’s game was a difficult one for me to accept. Not just because I was sent off but because we worked hard all week to prepare for that game and we had it under control.
“But not getting all three points wasn’t fair to my team-mates who fought till the end despite one man down. We will fight till the end to get promoted because it’s a must,” he wrote on Instagram.
This is the fourth time Omeruo would be shown the way out for both club and country since he began his professional career with Dutch Eredivisie side, ADO Den Haag in 2012.
This result is a setback for Leganes vying for one of the two automatic spots to the Spanish elite division. Omeruo will be missing in action when Leganes face Kelechi Nwakali’s Alcorcon on Sunday.
By Oluyemi Ogunseyin