0-0 (5-4): Almería in the hat for Spanish Cup quarter-finals
High-stakes match goes into spot-kick sudden death. Fernando becomes the player of the match after saving two penalties
Despite the cup tie looked to be heading for a draw and a penalty shoot-out from the start, UD Almería managed to progress to the Spanish Copa del Rey quarter-finals for the second time in the club’s history, after top-flight Osasuna got dumped out of the cup competition in the penalty shoot-out. The game was nerve-racking and highly-contested. After extra-time, Fernando became the Rojiblancos’ hero, saving two penalties and inspiring the Indalicos to put their name in the hat.
José Gomes selected a totally different starting XI from the one picked in LaLiga SmartBank encounter against Sabadell. Keeper Fernando; Aitor Buñuel, César de la Hoz playing a centre-back role, Chumi, Akieme; Petrović, Robertone, Villalba, Appiah, Lazo and Juan Villar took to the stage.
Osasuna were quick out of the traps in the opening period to such an extent that there were three clear scoring chances in a row for the Navarra-based team. A couple of shots from a corner-kick were well saved by goalie Fernando and Juan Villar with a brilliant goalline clearance after a header.
UD Almería were gaining momentum reacting to the previous squandered chances at the hands of the opponents. The Rojiblancos were about to surprise Juan Pérez in a free-kick booted by Lazo, who grazed the top of the bar. There was nothing to separate the two sides at the interval (0-0).
With all to play for during the second half, the home head coach decided to sub some players in search of new ideas for the attack. Thus, Sadiq Umar came in for Juan Villar and Ramazani replaced Appiah. It should be noted that the Amsterdam-born with British nationality displayed a sensational performance proving his well-deserved spot in the squad.
Both contenders battling it out wanted to keep their quarter-finals hopes alive by defending more conservative tactics. Time was ticking away so that Jose Corpas and Samú entered the pitch while Lazo and Robertone got benched inside 85 minutes. Just two minutes later, Almería created the biggest chance in the second half that could have sealed a safe passage to the Spanish Cup quarter-finals, since Akieme in tandem with Sadiq gave Fran Villalba an ingenious assist, but the native of Valencia shot could not be closer to the crossbar. That is exactly when the game went into extra-time. The Rojiblancos’ coach made the last substitutions by bringing on João Carvalho and Ivanildo. Fran Villalba and Petrović were subbed.
Nothing really happened before the 120th minute and the only way to claim a victory was therefore winning on penalties. It was a nerve-wracking situation involving a lot of risk for both players partaking and the spectators sitting anxiously at home, chewing their fingernails off in agony. No worries… heroic Fernando was to become the man of the match following two superb penalty saves kicked by Manu Sánchez and David García before sending the shoot-out to sudden death. João Carvalho’s spot-kick found his kicking boots to land a sudden-death penalty (5-4) and subdue a stand-in Osasuna. Almeria progressed to the Spanish Copa del Rey quarter-finals for the second time in its history.