0-0: Almería and Malaga play out drab goalless stalemate and end up fourth in the standings
The Rojiblancos reserved footballers who are one booking away from missing the next game and those physically drained. Few goal scoring opportunities.
Campaign comes to its late conclusion and UD Almería end up LaLiga SmartBank in the fourth spot after drab 0-0 goalless stalemate against Málaga. The Almeria line-up stood out for the presence of numerous additions so as to give rest to those physically drained players and others who are just one booking away from missing the next match. In this way, today’s result makes Girona the next Rojiblancos’ rivals gunning for the First Division through play-offs.
As aforementioned, the coaching staff decided to make an approach with the mind set on the play-offs and kept some members of the squad who are at risk of facing suspension or suffering from fatigue on the sidelines, so that the starting XI was full of changes and only four players from the last meeting in Ponferrada returned to action: Sivera, Juan Ibiza, Lazo and Appiah. In addition, it should be noted that homegrown Fran Callejón debuted as a starter in LaLiga SmartBank season -he did play play Copa del Rey- joining the Almeria first-team.
There were not so many scoring opportunities during the first-half, although Almería tried to dominate and keep ball possession. In general terms there was a development in which both neighbouring sides were evenly balanced. In this sense, only a powerful shot by Croatian Coric stood out but it went off the goal.
Already in the second-half the game remained goalless. However, the Indalicos went one step further in search of Málaga's goal. With the third place at stake, the Rojiblanco team made several approaches with which they were on the verge of taking the lead. Specifically, in the 51st minute, Barbero’s goal was disallowed for offside, while, soon after, Enzo Zidane tried his luck from a long distance, but the ball did not find the back of the net.
UD Almería would continue attacking and good proof of this was a great pass from Lazo to Coric, who did not manage to beat goalie Gonzalo. Thereby, Almeria were determined to make a difference with Villalba, Balliu and César de la Hoz coming on for Lazo, Coric and Callejón. Barbero could not put his name on the scoresheet, even though he scored the second time around; his goal was ruled out for offside again.
The Malaga team had some goal scoring opportunities. So far, Pellicer's men had not approached the red and white final third in the second-half, but with 65 minutes gone, keeper Sivera managed to save a goal.
As the time began to wind down, the game became dull and with limited goalmouth activity. Almería aimed to complete the regular phase of LaLiga SmartBank by sitting third in the table, yet the players could not find the way to do so, since they failed to break down Malaga's defense, so they had to settle for a draw.
This was the end of Matchday 42. Both sides kept a clean sheet. UD Almería end up fourth in the table, having Girona as their next rivals in the play-off for promotion to the Spanish top-flight.