0-2: Demanding first pre-season test for UD Almería
Despite the Rojiblancos barely had time to gear up for the friendly match against Betis, the defeat left the squad with good vibes
UD Almería played their first friendly game against Betis, who compete in the top-flight, as soon as they arrived in Marbella to kick off their pre-season. Despite the Rojiblancos barely had time to gear up for the match, and that was noticeable on the pitch, the defeat left the players with good vibes at times.
José Gomes picked a starting XI formed by five Almeria B homegrown players and some first-team footballers that the head coach wanted to see in action since he could not count on them in the final stretch of last season, such as Peybernes or Chema, who were on loan playing for other teams, or the brand new signing, Ramazani.
It was indeed an unprecedented formation to face Betis, opponents with enormous potential, so that it was expected that Betis took the initiative, although the Rojiblancos performed well defensively and piled on pressure on their adversaries, who did not create big chances. However, the ones wearing the red and white striped jersey seemed to lack confidence in attacking build-up play apart from Ramazani, skillful and fast, who kept the ball moving high up the pitch.
In the last minutes of the first-half, Betis scored the first goal. It was the 28th minute when suddenly Bartra headed a corner kick from team-mate Canales. The latter did not manage to pull one back before half-time as the attacking midfielder hit the woodwork with 37 minutes on the clock.
At the restart, José Gomes changed the team formation, including the most regular players from last season. Soon after Almeria drew level with Betis and after 56 minutes Lazo was on the verge of finding the equaliser after taking a free-kick. Shortly before, goalie Lluis denied centre-forward opponent Borja Iglesias.
Over the course of the second-half, team-work skills and determination helped a solid Almeria’s team stood out thanks to Appiah, who was energetic and with spirit. In the 68th minute, Almería got an efficient offense together on the pitch and Fran Villalba’s shot dragged wide. Despite being the first friendly, the Almeria squad were pretty good in action.
In the last minutes, Betis placed more and more pressure with some goal scoring opportunities included; something obvious considering that Almería have just started the pre-season, while Betis got back into the swing of things earlier. During injury time, Aitor Ruibal, made it 0-2 with a shot to the top corner from the edge of the box.
UD Almería: Lluis, Corpas, Romera, Peybernes, Fermín, Callejón, Aguza, Dani Albiar, Chema, Jean Marco and Ramazani. Lluis, Balliu, Maras, Iván Martos, Jonathan Silva, César de la Hoz, Petrovic, Appiah, Lazo, Fran Villalba and Rubén Enri played in the second-half.
Real Betis Balompié: Joel Robles, Emerson, Aïssa Mandi, Marc Bartra, Álex Moreno, Guido Rodríguez, Andrés Guardado, Sergio Canales, Joaquín Sánchez, Juanmi Jiménez and Borja Iglesias. Cristian Tello, Claudio Bravo, Paul, Diego Lainez, William Carvalho, Aitor Ruibal and Martín Montoya also played.
Referee: Ruiz Aguilera, from the Andalusian referees committee.
Goals: 0-1 (Minute 28). Bartra, with a header, coming out of a corner kick. 0-2 (Minute 92). Aitor Ruibal from outside the area.
Observations: Almería's first pre-season friendly game, played at Antonio Lorenzo Cuevas Stadium in Marbella.