Former Arsenal midfielder Santi Cazorla kick-started a melodramatic comeback arsenic Real Oviedo won the La Liga 2 play-off last to instrumentality to the Spanish apical formation aft a 24-year absence.
40-year-old Cazorla - who returned to his boyhood nine successful 2023 - converted a punishment precocious successful the archetypal fractional of Saturday's 2nd limb with his broadside 2-0 down connected aggregate to CD Mirandes.
Oviedo levelled the necktie successful the 2nd fractional done Ilyas Chaira earlier Francisco Portillo scored a stunning victor successful extra-time to unafraid promotion.
Cazorla claimed the decisive extremity successful the play-off semi-final necktie against Almeria, coming disconnected the seat to convert a free-kick and unafraid a 3-2 aggregate victory.
Cazorla was a merchandise of Oviedo's academy, but was forced to permission the nine successful 2003 erstwhile fiscal issues decimated the club's younker strategy and saw the archetypal squad re-enter successful the 3rd tier.
When Oviedo faced different situation a decennary later, Cazorla was 1 of thousands of fans and erstwhile players who purchased shares successful the nine to support it alive.
A two-time European champion with Spain, the midfielder spent six years astatine Arsenal and made 180 appearances earlier leaving successful 2018.
He suffered an Achilles wounded successful October 2016, going connected to person 11 operations to cure the problem.
One of the operations led to gangrene with doctors telling Cazorla helium should beryllium satisfied to locomotion again, ne'er caput play.
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