1-2: Vélez leave it late to defeat Almeria ‘B’
The young Rojiblancos, who were in the lead on 85 minutes, kiss goodbye to automatic promotion with all to play for in the play-offs
The Almeria ‘B’ players’ dream of winning automatic promotion to the Segunda Division RFEF turned into a nightmare. The mistakes made by the UD Almería ‘B’ side condemned them to defeat. The young Rojiblancos were far superior to Vélez to the point that in the 85th minute they were in the lead with a goal from Ramazani. Then the current leaders turned the game around with the final 1-2. This loss plus the triumph of Mancha Real mean that the ‘B’ team’s automatic promotion hopes have already been wrecked, so they will have to try to reach the Segunda Division RFEF through the play-offs.
Almeria ‘B’ gave Velez a guard of honour before the kick-off as they were assured of promotion last week.
With ten minutes on the clock, Ramazani and Dani Albiar put the Malaga-based keeper to the test with two clear attempts at goal. As the first half progressed, the hosts made their presence known in the final third, but their dominance did not reward them with any goals due to their lack of decision-making in the box. The crossbar denied Ricardo Carvalho. Soon after, Fermín nearly found the back of the net.
The second half arrived and within 53 minutes, Largie Ramazani welcomed a pass and finished off brilliantly before the Vélez goalkeeper could avert danger (1-0). Next, Hugo teamed up with Ramazani and Tomás was ready to pick up a superb assist provided by the Belgian but he put his chance away. From there, everything went downhill as Leo Márquez scored the equaliser on 86 minutes (1-1) and a couple of minutes later, the ball slipped out of Curro’s hands allowing Pablo to break the deadlock (1-2).
Now, the Academy players will go all out for a win over El Palo next weekend and will wait to see what happens between Antequera and Torredonjimeno if they want to come fourth. That position will give access to the semis without having to play the quarter-finals against one of the teams arriving from repechage.
Match information:
UD Almería ‘B’: Curro Harillo; Vertiz, Aitor Puñal, Ricardo Carvalho, Fermín, Tomás, Robles (Juan Manuel Gutiérrez, 87’), Dani Albiar (Cerpa, 81’), Siles (Hugo Neves, 81’), Ramazani (Caballero, 87’) and Jordi Escobar (Jean Marco, 66’).
Velez CF: Miguel; Pedro Ramírez (Gory, 63’), Javi García (Pablo, 63’), Leo Márquez, Toni Conejo (Cristian, 79’), Bocchino, Essel, Gonzalo, Branco, Joselinho and Cervera.
Goals: 1-0, 53’: Ramazani. 1-1, 86’: Leo Marquez. 1-2, 88’: Pablo.
Referee: Ortiz Alcalá, from the Granada Referees School. He booked visitors Branco, Javi García and Pedro Ramírez.
Observations: Fifth match of the promotion phase to Segunda Division RFEF. The match was played behind closed doors at the Juegos Mediterráneos Stadium. Before the kick-off, the Almería ‘B’ players gave Vélez a guard of honour.