Peque Fernández 2023/24: How Segunda Division’s top scorer is fuelling Racing’s promotion push – scout report

Real Racing Club de Santander have been highly entertaining to watch this season. The Segunda Division side have scored 36 goals in 21 league games, two more than their closest competitors (Eibar and Espanyol), while also conceding 29 times — the highest among the top 14 teams in the division.

Their inability to stop letting in goals, despite scoring plenty of their own, means they are only sixth in the Spanish second tier with 33 points, occupying the final promotion play-off spot. They are, however, only six points behind leaders CD Leganes and four adrift of Racing Ferrol, who occupy the other direct promotion spot.

A significant reason for the Montañeses free-flowing attack has been youngster Gerard Peque Fernández, who has scored 10 times in 20 Segunda Division matches, amounting to 27.8% of his teams total output. Peque leads the league in goals alongside Espanyols Javi Puado and has turned heads in Spain with his performances.

This scout report and tactical analysis will look at his goalscoring and other attacking attributes, with additional analysis on how he has fitted into Racings tactics this season.

Background

Peque, born on October 4, 2002, is a product of Barcelonas famed La Masia academy but left them in 2016 to join Cornellas youth team. He went on to play for their U19 team two years later and even made two appearances for their senior squad before returning to Barcelonas B team, now known as Barca Atletic, in 2019. The Spaniard made 50 appearances for the latter, scoring eight goals and laying out two assists, including one goal in five UEFA Youth League matches.

With a route to the first team looking complicated, Peque left Barca Atletic to join Racing in the summer of 2022. He settled for just 23 appearances during the 2022-23 season, of only five were starts, and scored just once as Racing finished 12th in the Segunda Division with only 54 points from 42 matches. However, he impressed in their final league game of the campaign, assisting twice as they beat Cartagena 3-1.

Peque began the ongoing season as a fixture in Racings XI and has started 17 of their 21 league games, coming off the bench in three. The extended run of time on the pitch has led to a positive impact, as he has already hit double digits in goals scored while providing an assist as well.

Profile

Peque provides a unique skill set which allows him to operate across both flanks and down the middle up front. However, Racing manager Jose Alberto Lopez has preferred to use him predominantly as a second striker or the central attacking midfielder in a 4-2-3-1. The 21-year-old has notably scored nine goals in 15 Segunda Division matches when deployed as a second striker.

His heatmap below suggests that he has the freedom to roam into spaces as needed to provide Racing with outlets in their build-up, with most of his activity occurring in central areas of the final third.

Peque, a right-footed forward, understandably prefers to play on the left, often cutting in to find a teammate with a pass. He averages 0.48 through-balls per 90 in the league this season, which places him in the 91st percentile among his peers. Given his tendency to stay central, his numbers in the crossing and switching of play dimensions are understandably low (0.07 per 90 in both).

Open-play: How Peques movement helps shape scoring opportunities

With that out of the way, lets dive into the most exciting aspect of Peques game: his goalscoring!

As you can see in the graph below, the Spaniards primary contributions ar