0-1: Almería back to winning ways after five-week winless streak
Almeria outplayed Tenerife from start to finish to grab all 3 points thanks to Ramazani’s match-winning goal
UD Almería returned to winning ways after a five back-to-back winless run of results. The Rojiblancos dominated the Chicharreros from the start with peedy ace Largie Ramazani scoring the match-winning goal. The UD Almeria squad also the displayed defensive efficiency that Rubi urged during the pre-Tenerife presser, so they managed to keep a clean sheet and the feeling that the 3 points were not in danger on the island.
Head coach Rubi opted for an unchanged starting XI with Makaridze returning in goal and Aitor Buñuel, Cuenca, Maraš, Akieme, Petrović, Morlanes, Carvalho, Corpas, Lazo and Sadiq in action. The Catalan picked the same 4-1-4-1 formation this second time in the driving seat.
It was not necessary to wait for too long to realise that UD Almería went all out for a win creating big chances through a quick ball circulation. Triangular movements between Corpas, Carvalho and Sadiq ended with the Nigerian missing a good opportunity to open the scoring, while immediately afterwards, the skipper who participated in the previous action finished high over the crossbar.
With a quarter of an hour gone, the clearest goal-scoring opportunity of the Indalicos came in the opening forty-five minutes. Carvalho leaped beyond his marker brilliantly, rifled a shot that the keeper blocked. Since then, both teams became evenly-matched, however, the hosts went down to ten men just in the last minutes before the interval. Opponent Alberto was sent off with a straight red card following a dangerous tackle on João.
A double substitution was in order to give the team more mobility. Ramazani and Robertone came on for Petrović and Corpas. At some point, the Almeria contenders got a bit scared when the first goal-opportunity of this half second was enjoyed by Tenerife in a counter-attack in which Nono led and Fran Sol missed a header.
This was actually the only chance at the hands of the islanders until the final whistle, since Luis Miguel Ramis’ men sat deep and UD Almería regained control of the game. With 57 minutes on the clock, the visiting side was about to take the lead through Ramazani’s quick run with the ball at his feet to find Lazo and after the left-winger’s cross, the Belgian nearly found the back of the net. Next, Sadiq ruined a missed chance. The team peppered the goal but could not find a way to past the keeper.
That is when Rubi decided to add more attackers up front, Aketxe and Juan Villar were brought on while Lazo and João Carvalho were benched. Sadiq Umar spotted Ramazani and the youngster, showed some neat footwork, got away from the goalie as calm as usual and scored a goal from the six-yard box on 68 minutes that he celebrated with an impressive backflip (0-1).
UD Almería showed some steel to clinch a victory again on the back of three draws and two defeats. The Rojiblancos continue to fight in the race for promotion to LaLiga Santander. Remaining third to secure a place in the play-offs depends on themselves. At the same time, they closed the gap on RCD Mallorca.