3-3: UD Almería drop 2 points after heading down the tunnel up 3-0
The Rojiblancos put it all out on the table and seemed to have the game on track in the opening half, but in the second, Granada CF cancelled out Luis Suárez's sublime five-minute hat-trick
UD Almería did not achieve that long-awaited victory this season in their home match against direct rivals Granada CF. The Rojiblancos headed down the tunnel up 3-0 thanks to a sublime five-minute hat-trick by Luis Suárez, however, in the second half, the Granadinistas began to create effective plays and managed to complete an impressive comeback as they grabbed the third to tie things up in the 87th minute. The 11 minutes added in stoppage time were hectic and either team could have claimed a triumph, but the score remained three-all after the final whistle. The worst news, regardless of this unexpected result, was the injury of Luis Suárez, who had to leave the pitch on a stretcher in the second half.
UD Almería interim coach Alberto Lasarte [UD Almería 'B' head coach] made some changes to the previous starting XI against Sevilla FC. There were many new faces in a vital match for the future of the team. Maximiano between the sticks while the first surprises were visible in the defence, Kaiky and Chumi operating as centre-backs with Akieme and Arnau Puigmal as full-backs. In the midfield, Édgar played as a defensive midfielder along with Dion Lopy and a little further up Gonzalo Melero was placed. Then, trio Ramazani, Baptistão, another of the new additions to the line-up, and Luis Suárez were teaming up high up the pitch.
The lively encounter kicked off with the current two Andalusian bottom teams in the table creating plays, but none of them were enough to find the back of the net. It looked like Granada CF would dominate, yet UD Almería, much-improved under interim coach Alberto Lasarte, were diligent and well-organised throughout the first half and made life difficult for their direct rivals by taking the lead.
The first footballer to put the visitor keeper's reflexes to the test was Léo Baptistão, who forced Ferreira into smart saves twice, although his second opportunity hit the woodwork. The Indálicos sent the first warnings against a Granada CF squad that as the minutes went by were running out of creativity in the final third. It was then when inside 40 minutes, the Nazaríes lost control of the game and in a matter of five minutes, Colombian Luis Suárez snared a wonderful hat-trick, one of the fastest ever. His first two goals came from great assists provided by Ramazani, whose ability to pop up in the right place at the right time remains a vital asset. The third, after pressing and winning the ball back from the Nazarí defenders. Granada CF were trailing 3-0 by the end of the first half. It looked like this Sunday was the day!
In the second forty-five minutes, the Granadinistas went all out with an eye to try to stage a comeback sooner rather than later and thus, pulling one or two back. Who said it was impossible? The Rojiblancos repelled all dangerous situations. However, in the 57th minute, the adversaries were awarded a penalty...a penalty taken by Puertas that came into the grasp of UD Almería's goalie Maximiano, who punched the air.
Despite this wasted opportunity, the visitors continued to approach the attacking third full of grit and determination sparking a spell of dominance. Within 65 minutes, another penalty gave them hope, this time Maximiano did not guessed right and Bryan Zaragoza was in charge of converting from 12 yards, and thus bringing his team closer to levelling things up on the south coast (3-1).
This goal greatly encouraged the Granadinos, whose warning shots followed one another. The Almerienses tried to protect themselves from goals against, but in the 70th minute, Ricard Sánchez lit a fire of enthusiasm deep in himself netting the visitors' second goal, leaving little room for error for the home side (3-2).
As the guests had been doing from the get go, they continued to combine to tee up and give UD Almería a hard time on their own turf. As the saying goes, you can only get away with certain things for so long...with 87 minutes gone, Uzuni slotted home to seal a fantastic 3-3 comeback. Who would have thought it?
After this disappointing setback, the Rojiblancos, who had lost momentum, tried with all their strengths to break the deadlock. Nothing could be done and a big chance was spurned as Arribas hit the post in the 90'+6, wrecking their hopes of leaving home the elusive all three points of the campaign. The last clear-cut opportunity would be for opponent Álvaro Fernández, in the 90'+11 minute, his powerful strike crashed into the post. An entertaining affair ended all square (3-3).
Match information:
UD Almería: Maximiano, Arnau Puigmal (Pozo. 83'), Akieme, Chumi, Kaiky, Édgar (Baba 34'), Lopy, Melero, Baptistão (Arribas. 48'), Ramazani (Embarba. 48') and Luis Suárez (83').
Granada CF: André Ferreira, Ricard, Neva, Ignasi Miquel (Miguel Rubio 45'), Torrente, Gumbau, Sergio Ruiz (Gonzalo Villar. 45'), Antonio Puertas (Uzuni. 73'), Bryan Zaragoza, Callejón (Álvaro Carreras 45') and Lucas Boyé (Weissman. 88').
Goals: 1-0 Luis Suárez (40'). 2-0 Luis Suárez (Min 44): 3-0 Luis Suárez (46') 3-1 Bryan Zaragoza (pen) (65') 3-2 Ricard (70') 3-3 Uzuni. (87').
Referee: González Fuertes. Hosts Arnau, Akieme and visitor Gonzalo Villar were yellow carded.
Observations: Matchday 8. LaLiga EA Sports League. Game played at the Power Horse Stadium in front of 14,164 spectators in the stands. Before the match kick-off, Robertone was handed over a framed UD Almería shirt after racking up a century of UD Almería games.
